Pittsburgh council asks governor to help clean up city after debate over declaring a state emergency

Councilperson Charland asked Pennsylvania’s governor on Tuesday to send state resources to help remove widespread litter and illegal dumping across Pittsburgh, and City Council approved the request after a lengthy debate and an amendment striking explicit “state of emergency” language.

The request — introduced as a will of council and presented by Councilperson Charland — called on the governor to "render essential the Commonwealth supplementation of municipal resources to remove trash debris from publicly and privately owned land and to restore public health," after noting more than 1,110 illegal dump sites had been identified in Pittsburgh since 2005 and more than 850 had been cleaned, according to Charland’s text read into the record.

Charland framed the issue in public-health and equity terms, saying the accumulation of refuse “damages community health and perceptions, contributes to disorder and curbs economic development leading to disinvestment, especially in low income communities.” He told colleagues, “You’re gonna hear me beat this drum continually, about the state of our city,” and pushed for state help to supplement municipal cleanup efforts.

Opponents and some…