Montreal snow dump still melting

MONTREAL, July 24 (UPI) -- Montreal officials said the 43 million square feet of snow dumped at the unused Turcot Railyards is still melting long into the summer.

Francois Puchin, spokesperson for the the city's Cote des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grace borough, said 15 percent of the snow, about 2.7 million square feet, remains at the Pullman site and the borough's public works department has been working for the past four weeks to clean up the site, The (Montreal) Gazette reported Thursday.

Puchin said the cleanup, which is costing the borough about $300,000, is expected to last for another six weeks.

"They have to clear away all kinds of garbage, even things like cigarette butts, plastic bags and coffee cups," Puchin said.

The site was lent to the city by the Quebec Transport Department as an emergency snow dump. The borough agreed to tend to the snow dump.