SCRANTON -- The weather this winter has been so unusual that the jobs crews do in the spring can actually get done now. That includes picking up litter along the highways.
In February, Todd Carpenter is supposed to be behind the wheel of a plow truck for PennDOT or on some other winter-related job -- not spending the day picking up litter in the Scranton area, as part of numerous PennDOT crews.
Carpenter is part of pundit's extra winter staff to deal with snow not trash.
"You know, I'd rather be in the truck but this stuff needs to be done too, so it's good to get this done," said Carpenter.
Usually picking up litter only gets done in the spring but not this warm winter.
And usually all the trash is covered by snowpack. We don't have to look at it until the snow thaws.
"The weather has been crazy. It's been up and down, but we're trying to get some spots picked with litter that is really bad," said PennDOT's Ted Stefanski.
And the guys are finding a bit of everything -- including a bag full of syringes.
"We're finding cans, bottles, diapers -- people are throwing everything out," Stefanski.
The crews picking up litter say what's really sad is that even though they're picking up bag after bag after bag of litter, they'll drive through here in a week or so and see more trash.
"We can't keep up with it," said Carpenter. "I mean, we get out here, you pick up a ramp, and two days later there's trash along the ramp."
"I don't really understand why they do it, but they do," said Michelle Cooper.
Cooper is glad to see the early litter cleanup. She's tried to help too.
"I actually picked up a beer can today."
"There is a lot of litter along the highways," added Jack Pencek of Moosic.
Drivers say it's hard to miss the mess, but thanks to this odd winter, some of it is getting cleaned up for now.
