©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Vandalism and litter sully Devil’s Pool
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Trash and graffiti have marred Devil’s Pool in Fairmount Park. (Photo by David Soffa)

It’s not unusual to see them parking up at the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Allens Lane – they come in bathing suits, toting 40-pound grills, bags of charcoal, food, cases of beer and lawn chairs and make their way into the woods for the long hike to a secluded, rocky area of the Cresheim Creek known locally as Devil’s Pool.

Long a summertime destination for people from all over the city, Devil’s Pool is an unusually deep spot created by a short waterfall in the otherwise shallow creek. It’s a favorite spot to drink, lounge and swim, despite the fact that high levels of pollution make it illegal to do so.

For years, the use of Devil’s Pool has triggered the occasional complaint from park users familiar with the pollution problem or concerned for the safety of those who actually jump from high rock outcroppings into the pool. Lately, however, users of the pool have begun to upset regular park users who have come by to find wide patches of graffiti and large piles of trash: beer bottles, burnt charcoal, empty plastic bags and forgotten lawn chairs – a skeleton of trash from their summer fun.

“They make an awful lot of effort to get there, but then they just leave everything,” said Patricia Crossan, Fairmount Park’s district three manager, which covers the northwest region.

*****

Devil’s Pool is a secluded location in the Wissahickon Park part of Fairmount Park, located near the confluence of the Cresheim and Wissahickon creeks. It is surrounded by tall rocky cliffs, some which serve as platforms for jumping into the water below. Access is available only by foot or bike, with small-vehicle accessibility about 400 feet away from the destination, estimated Crossan.

Fairmount Park officials have had a hard time keeping up with trash at Devil’s Pool. The Park Commission’s Chief of Staff, Barry Bessler, said the park lacks the resources needed to keep up with the mess. (Photo by David Soffa)

The trash and activity at Devil’s Pool has been a reoccurring problem for the park for years, but the problem seems to be getting worse. Chestnut Hill Community Association manager Betty Brady has received a number of calls recently about the state of the area. She’s been directing concerned citizens to call the Friends of the Wissahickon or the Fairmount Park Commission, but not before each caller has told her that the situation has been worsening each year.

Crossan was openly angered by the behavior of the visitors to Devil’s Pool in a phone interview with the Local. “It’s my worst area. … and it’s an absolutely uncontrollable situation for the Commission,” Crossan said. The decreasing resources and funding in the Fairmount Park Commission has made maintenance and enforcement of the park and its rules more difficult, as park rangers and maintenance staff also decrease.

The park rangers are scared to approach the large drunken parties, said Crossan, and added that the only deterrent she can see is to arrest them. She said she has called the police before, but littering, and understandably so, just isn’t a priority.

“It’s a tremendously remote site, only accessible on foot and difficult to regulate regularly,” said Fairmount Park Commission’s Chief of Staff, Barry Bessler. “It’s an area that we certainly do not have the man power to clean.”

“We are one pad of butter spread on an entire loaf of bread,” said Crossan, referring to her maintenance crew of nine. “They are exhausted.”

Crossan and her staff of nine maintenance employees and one supervisor cover about 2,300 acres of Fairmount Park, including 24 parks such as Pastorius Park and Carpenters Woods, numerous stables and houses, 24 picnic sites (in which Devil’s Pool is not included), about 10 sports fields and seven playgrounds. Plus, they also care for the street trees in 18 neighborhoods, including Chestnut Hill, Olney, Roxborough and Nicetown.

Devil’s Pool hasn’t been deemed a legal, permitted picnic area in the park because of the difficulty in maintaining it. Its seclusion makes trash collection inconvenient since the large trash trucks can’t even make it up the narrow vehicle access, and the staffing is already stretched as it is.

Still, two weeks ago Crossan’s crew cleaned Devil’s Pool, collecting 25 full bags of trash from the area, the result of a 90-degree summer weekend. Last week, Crossan said she was lucky her crew even picked up their regular trash route; they were busy with down trees and other damage from the storm.

The short staffing isn’t the only reason Crossan considers Devil’s Pool her “worst area.”

Devil’s Pool is trashed more than any other location in the Wissahickon, both with the quantity and frequency of the trash, she said. “It’s one of those impossible locations to take care of to the same level as the rest of the park,” and the trash “smacks you in the face” when walking through the park because the rest of it is so much cleaner.

There have been volunteers – through school programs and organizations like the Friends of the Wissahickon – who have helped clean the trash, but Crossan said the amount of trash sickens the volunteers and regular clean-ups fade away.

Crossan said restrictions can be added to the area, but an organization or individual would have to petition for the change. Right now, alcohol and cooking are allowed in the park. But even with rules, enforcement would be difficult because of the shortage in park rangers.

Swimming in Devil’s Pool is not allowed, and there are signs posted to warn visitors not to swim in the water. Crossan said the “fecal count in the water is above the legally allowed amount to swim in, and when there’s a storm it’s even worse.” But the signs usually end up in the creek.

The Friends of the Wissahickon believe educating the public about the effect of these destructive actions could deter the problem, or at least lessen it. Maura McCarthy, FOW’s development director, said the organization, in collaboration with the Fairmount Park Commission, is just beginning to develop a public education campaign about littering and its effect on Wissahickon Park, and Devil’s Pool will be a strong example.

Both McCarthy and Crossan directed citizens to call the Commission or FOW if problems arise at Devil’s Pool. The northwest district of Fairmount Park Commission can be contacted at 215-683-0200, and FOW at 215-247-0417.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or Kristin@ChestnuthillLocal.com.