City Declares War on Grime with Eco-Blitz Cleaning

The grimier streets of San Francisco are getting a major scrub down as part of a city-wide cleaning blitz that hopes to draw awareness to cleanliness.

The Department of Public Works, in an effort to raise awareness on waste issues throughout the city, has commenced cleanups for the most heavily used corridors in town, reaching from the Richmond to the Mission, according to DPW spokeswoman Christine Falvey.

The cleanups are being called "Super Eco-Blitzes," which consist of intense three-day concentrated efforts on specific streets where crews steam sidewalks, remove graffiti, pick up debris, repaint curbs, fill potholes, and change street signs that have been damaged, Falvey said.

"Crews removed 1,000 pounds of debris," Falvey said of an 8-block stretch of Mission Street during a cleanup earlier this month. "We'll probably do it again."

Since property owners are responsible for the sidewalks directly in front of their property, they must pay for everything city crews do, from repaving to sidewalk steaming or they must properly maintain those areas themselves -- which Falvey said leaves them bitter, hoping people will help them out by leaving their sidewalks and streets clean.

"We're trying to improve the neighborhood," said Andy Thompson, owner of Marian's, a clothing store, as he took a break from scrubbing the sidewalk outside his business.

"Hopefully we can get more people down into the Mission district."

After three days scrubbing Mission Street, the Eco-Blitz crews reported and cited 63 businesses and residential properties that did not have garbage service and in turn were overusing city trash cans -- an act that encourages people to toss their litter on the sidewalk and street, according to Falvey.

The fines could be up to $300 per incident, she said.

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said the issue is behavioral, since people can use trash cans to throw away their uneaten burritos instead of littering. If this consciousness is used, Falvey said, property owners will have less of a problem.

"The purpose is to educate merchants and property owners," Falvey said. "We want to show them how to fix the neighborhoods."

The next "Super Eco-Blitz" is happening Aug. 25 - 27 on Stockton Street from Sacramento Street to Columbus Avenue, according to the DPW.

The complete 2009 "Eco-Blitzing" schedule may be found at http://www.sfgov.org/site/sfdpw_page.asp?id=108821.