Boston Plagued By Nasty, Trash-Stuffed Snow Piles Given the Moniker ‘Wintertime’s Evil Twin’
In the golden days of summer, no one wants to remember the horrifying winter months — particularly Boston, which endured its snowiest winter in history. And now, well past Memorial Day, reminders in the form of black, trash-pocked snow piles are still standing strong.
The most massive is one in the Seaport District, which these days has dwindled from its mighty 75-foot height to three stories, the Boston Globe reported.
But it’s the delightful treasures inside that have city officials so amazed, because the piles more closely resemble landfills. For six weeks, city crews have scooped up the trash that has broken free from its depths, and so far, it’s upchucked about 85 tons worth, said Public Works Commissioner Michael Dennehy.
“It’s vile. We’re finding crazy stuff; bicycles, orange cones that people used as space savers — the funniest thing they found was half of a $5 bill. They’re looking for the other half still.”
The garbage frozen since January inside the snow piles were simply scooped up by plows during the historic storm. Boston isn’t the only city plagued by these unseemly reminders of winter — Somerville also has a couple of its own, which the Globe described as “small, ash-covered volcanoes.”
"The funniest thing they found was half a $5 bill. They’re looking for the other half still.” http://t.co/LWPICVKg8z pic.twitter.com/qwUM5FEr7E
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 28, 2015
Over in Washington, D.C., the last of the heaps from its own storms have already melted away, the Washington Post added. The last known one disappeared from the Plaza America way back in April.
But D.C. has experience with its own enduring snow piles. One was left over from 2009-10’s Snowmageddon that reached six stories at its highest and stuck around until May.
Boston is way past that benchmark now, even though it’s seen five days of temperatures in the 80s. Not even the sun seems strong enough to melt them.
“It’s like a wintertime snow pile’s evil twin. It’s dirty, and there’s a reasonable amount of trash there,” said Spokeswoman Denise Taylor said.
[Photo Via Cynthia Needham / Twitter]