The Bureau of Forestry, Elk State Forest, was busy this past fall removing dirt from stockpiled old culvert pipes that had been removed and replaced in 2017 from state forest roads.
These pipes were loaded in dump trucks and taken to Metalico in Bradford to be recycled.
Along with the pipes were other metal items that were illegally dumped on state forest lands, like stoves and metal roofing. In addition, worn out auto parts, metal fencing, I-beams and other scrap metal items were hauled for recycling.
Recycling does work, and 22 loads, or about 92,000 pounds of metal, were removed from the forest.
The state forest is cleaner, the metal recycled and the state will receive payment for the scrap metal, bureau officials said.