Philadelphia, Conrail To Clean Up Kensington Drug Market

PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia and Conrail announced Thursday morning their effort to clean up the Conrail property known to be an open-air heroin market and prime site for heroin users to inject the drug.

The agreement between the city and the railroad company says Conrail and the city will begin the cleanup work as soon as possible and no later than the end of July, according to a press release from the city.

Conrail will remove the vegetation to create clear sight lines from street level; remove the trash and debris; and secure the railroad property to deter trespassing and illegal dumping. In addition to assisting Conrail’s clean-up, Philadelphia will provide housing and drug-addiction services to those living in the encampment, as well as additional services to address ongoing quality of life issues to the surrounding neighborhood.

“I'd be remiss if I didn’t say that, for them, this announcement is long overdue," Mayor Jim Kenney said in a press conference Thursday morning. "They deserved faster action from all of us standing up here today. Over the years, thousands of addicts and drug dealers have used this property as an open-air drug market, and the community has been subjected to the public health problems, crime and negative impact to quality of life. That said, I am glad that we are here, and that we can take this very important first step towards helping the community take back their neighborhood.”

The area was recently featured on the "Dr. Oz" program, where host Dr. Mehmet Oz toured the drug-ridden area with a Philadelphia DEA Special Agent Gary Tuggle. In the segment, Oz called the the area a "hellscape" and said vising it "changed him forever."

A community meeting will be held to discuss this agreement and next steps with area residents on June 20, at 5:30 p.m., at the Iglesias del Barrio, 240 E. Cambria St., according to a press release from the city.

"This is an important milestone in making progress on an intractable societal challenge," Jonathan Broder, Conrail VP and general counsel, said at the press conference. "Conrail wants to do its part, and we’ll be working closely with our partners to make a real difference to the communities we work in every day."

In the last year, the city launched an effort to address the serious quality of life issues facing the neighborhood, according to the city.

The city's Licenses and Inspections department has spent about $600,000 to demolish and seal dozens of vacant buildings in the neighborhood.

The Streets Department also invested more than $230,000 to upgrade street lighting in the surrounding neighborhood.

Philadelphia's Community Life Improvement Programs abated 21 vacant lots, facilitated more than a dozen beautification projects and cleaned thousands of graffiti tags. The city also removed 30 to 40 tons of illegally dumped trash from the areas near the railroad on a monthly basis.

"While Conrail works to clean, secure and maintain its property, we are going to be focused on helping the individuals who frequent the area along those tracks get into treatment and supportive housing," Philadelphia's Managing Director Mike DiBerardinis said. "For too long, lives were unnecessarily lost along those tracks."

In preparation of the cleanup, Health and Human Services outreach efforts in this area were increased in early May to five days a week.

The city is committed to making drug treatment available to anyone who is willing to accept it, and the city is substantially increasing funding to expand capacity for supportive housing, the press release states.

In addition to all of the resources that had previously been available, the city’s 2018 budget contains a $250,000 increase for supportive housing resources to serve the area.

DiBerardinis also thanked the legislators and community advocates who were critical to achieving this deal and who have served this community over many years, including Congressman Robert Brady, Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and the Salvation Army, among many others.

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