By Ted Land, NBC News
Anchorage, Alaska
— Bulldozer crews were on the clock on Independence Day, trying to break down
mountains of snow, which still tower over some parts of Anchorage, Alaska
after a winter of record snowfall.
At American Landscaping crews "roll" the surface
of their pile every day or so, scraping off a top layer of gravel, which can
insulate the snow, slowing its melt.
"I don't know how high it is now, looks like about 80
feet," said Glenn Ball, owner of American Landscaping, as he looked up at
what he estimated to be about 280,000 cubic yards of leftovers.
Ball made good money off the snow dump after Anchorage broke its
annual snowfall record of 132.6 inches. Now that it's summer, he could use some
extra space on his property for the soil and landscaping side of his business.
Cloudy skies and temperatures in the 50s mean it could be at
least a few more months before the pile disappears.
"We'll be lucky if it's gone by October or November,"
he said.
Ball is paying three bulldozer operators to work on his snow
pile. He's also assigned crews to pick up all the trash that's left behind.
Chip bags, car parts, liquor bottles, batteries—all kinds of
garbage gets mixed in with the snow that plows clear from roads and driveways
each winter.
"Even though we knew that it was going to be disastrous
for us in the summertime, we still wanted to e the record," he said.
To see the video, go here: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=21123341&nid=148&title=alaska-still-shoveling-snow-after-record-year&s_cid=queue-12
