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Still, Coletta said his department has allowed snow dumping in water when it's clearly the best option. "This is an unusual year; when there's an emergency, or an issue of public safety, the policy can be flexible," he said. Some people don't bother to ask. In Lawrence, Mass., Mayor William Lantigua caught a private contractor dumping truckloads of snow in the Merrimack River late Sunday and early Monday. Police are still investigating the possible illegal dumping, and no charges have been filed. According to the police report, the contractor said he "knew it was wrong, but stated,
'It's just too much snow. Where else can I put it?'" That question hit Waterbury, Conn., public works director John P. Lawlor Jr. after the lot he uses for dumping filled up for the first time ever. "We could not squeeze another mouthful of snow there," he said. Lawlor figured he'd never be allowed to dump in the water, so he brought in a snow-melting machine from the Ohio company Snow Dragon, and it's clearing the downtown area over the next few days. Other cities, including Minneapolis, use the company's machines. New York also trucks its snow to melters, which empty the water into the sewer system, then to treatment plants, where many pollutants are removed. Snow Dragon's most popular machine costs $230,000 and measures about 27 feet long, 8 feet wide, and more than 8 feet high, said Jennifer Binney, director of sales and marketing. It melts 30 tons of snow an hour and discharges it, debris-free, into the storm drains, she said. As well as it works, Binney noted, "It will never replace hauling." That leaves large bodies of water as alluring dumping spots when the snow seems too high. Expediency is no excuse to dump snow in water, said Anthony Iarrapino, an attorney with the environmental group the Conservation Law Foundation. The pollution problems are so severe that it should be considered only if there's really no other option. Still, he conceded, "if the snow continues as it is, you may be reaching that tipping point."
[Associated
Press;
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