As city thaws, trash piles up

THE STREETS of Philadelphia are finally clear of snow and ice, but there's something else gumming up the gutters.

Trash. And lots of it, in some of the city's more isolated areas.

The recent "extreme low temperatures" caused delays in the Streets Department's trash-collection schedule, according to a news release from Mayor Nutter's office, leaving some city blocks cluttered.

Residents are encouraged to keep bringing their trash to the curb on their normally scheduled pickup days even if previous piles haven't been cleared, a representative from Philly311 said yesterday.

"Crews are working diligently this week to catch up on delayed collections," the representative said. "We appreciate everyone's patience."

Trash not collected on its regularly scheduled day will be picked up the following day, according to the news release.

Residents who don't want to wait for collection can take their trash and recyclables to one of the city's three Sanitation Convenience Centers (locations listed at ph.ly/2rHLl) Monday through Saturday between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Thankfully, the forecast for the next few days shows an increase in temperatures, with a high of 34 for today - which is good, considering PECO's announcement yesterday that the region broke its records for electricity used (7,148 megawatts) and natural gas burned (759,550 million cubic feet) during Tuesday's cold snap.

The previous records were set in the winters of 2007 and 2000, respectively.