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WILKES-BARRE — Mounds of snow popped up throughout the city after last week’s snow storm, but another type of pile was growing at the Department of Public Works yard.

Garbage trucks were dumping their loads at the yard on North Pennsylvania Avenue and heading back to the neighborhoods for pickups. It’s so DPW crews could catch up after spending most of last week removing the nearly two feet of snow from Winter Storm Stella.

The state Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday said it was assured by city officials the garbage pile is temporary and found no violations Tuesday.

“The DEP will not be taking any action against Wilkes-Barre city,” said Colleen Connolly, a spokeswoman for the DEP’s Northeast Regional Office.

The Times Leader contacted the DEP after receiving a tip about the garbage.

Connolly said the DEP contacted DPW officials and was informed the city is behind on picking up the trash and needed a place to temporarily store it.

“We were told they (city officials) have decided to use the waste transfer station in Hanover Township to store the trash because the private hauler they use could not provide roll-offs. The DEP did not mandate that,” Connolly said.

City Administrator Ted Wampole said the blue bags of household trash aren’t being stored on site.

The trucks dump the garbage at the yard and return to their routes, rather than driving to the Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Lackawanna County, Wampole explained. The garbage is transferred into containers that are transported to the landfill and emptied, he added.

“It’s just for efficiency purposes,” Wampole said.

DPW crews began double pickups on Monday. The city suspended collections of trash and recyclables last week so crews and contractors could concentrate on snow removal. Mayor Tony George declared a state of emergency on March 14 and lifted it on Sunday.

The state Department of Environmental Protection cleared Wilkes-Barre of any violations related to a temporary transfer station set up at the city’s Department of Public Works yard so crews can catch up with collections that were suspended last week due to the snow storm.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL032217Trash1.jpg.optimal.jpgThe state Department of Environmental Protection cleared Wilkes-Barre of any violations related to a temporary transfer station set up at the city’s Department of Public Works yard so crews can catch up with collections that were suspended last week due to the snow storm.

Wilkes-Barre Department of Public Works crews have been dumping garbage at the yard on North Pennsylvania Avenue where it’s loaded into containers and hauled away so crews can catch up with collections that were suspended during last week’s snow storm. The state Department of Environmental Protection checked out the temporary transfer station Tuesday and found no violations.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TTL032217Trash2.jpg.optimal.jpgWilkes-Barre Department of Public Works crews have been dumping garbage at the yard on North Pennsylvania Avenue where it’s loaded into containers and hauled away so crews can catch up with collections that were suspended during last week’s snow storm. The state Department of Environmental Protection checked out the temporary transfer station Tuesday and found no violations.

By Jerry Lynott

[email protected]

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Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.