Concerned Residents of the Youghiogheny.

Concerned Residents of the Youghiogheny (CRY) - also referred to as Concerned Residents of Yukon and the Youghiogheny - was a grassroots environmental organization that attempted to close down a toxic waste dump in Yukon, Pennsylvania from 1985 to 1998. Yukon is an unincorporated village located in South Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, inhabited mostly by retired industrial workers, many of whom live on fixed incomes in this rural community. In 1963, Mill Service, Inc. opened a hazardous waste disposal facility in Yukon. This facility disposed of strong acids used in steel production and referred to as "pickle liquors," along with other waste products from industry, by storing them in large open pits called "impoundments" or "lagoons." These lagoons were dug over abandoned mine tunnels, which drained into local streams and groundwater. Beginning in the mid 1970s, residents of Yukon had complained of abnormally high rates of cancers and other ailments, as well as dying cattle, in their community. Individual attempts to alert local government officials brought unsatisfactory results, and in September 1985 Yukon residents Nick and Angie Babich, Melbry Bolk, and Diana Steck decided to form a permanent organization while attending a conference held by the Citizens' Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes (CCHW). In October of that year, CRY was organized in Yukon at a town meeting. Shortly after, the group was incorporated as a non-profit organization. CRY worked to close down Mill Service, Inc.'s Yukon disposal site, start cleanup and relocation programs, and to change legislation concerning waste management. They pursued these goals through public awareness campaigns, government liaison efforts, community health tests and surveys, litigation, and grassroots outreach and fundraising. They also pioneered the first recycling program in Westmoreland County and trained many new environmental organizations in the western Pennsylvania region. At times, CRY seemed close to achieving some of their goals, but their larger objectives were ultimately frustrated. Their struggles took a heavy toll on many members whose health was already in decline. Some died while others moved out of the area. A unique challenge surfaced in 1997 when the Ku Klux Klan set up an office in Yukon and offered to help fight against Mill Service in an attempt to gain recruits. CRY led the community in a successful resistance against the Klan, which was their last accomplishment: the strain of that crisis was too much for the weakened group, and by 1998 CRY had effectively disbanded. One member, Ed Collins, continued to pursue related aims on his own through 2004, and records of these are included in Series II. CRY's legacy endures in other ways: they formed the Pennsylvania Environmental Network as an alliance with other local grassroots environmental groups, including: Pennsylvanians United to Rescue the Environment, Citizens Against Toxic Sites, Group Against Smog and Pollution, and Kiski Valley Coalition to Save Our Children. At the national level, they also worked with organizations such as Greenpeace and kept up a close relationship with the Citizens' Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes. In 1995, Mill Service, Inc. was consolidated with Allegheny Liquid Systems under the new name of MAX Environmental Technologies.