The garbage, heaped on seven acres of undeveloped land near Philadelphia International Airport, has been a major headache for city firefighters, who have visited it dozens of times to try to extinguish the unseen fire burning within it. Acrid smoke from the blaze has been a source of frequent complaints by residents.
Philadelphia Managing Director Philip Goldsmith said work crews will douse ``hot spots'' in the pile and haul away the extinguished sections.
City officials said in March that it could cost more than $1 million to clean up the 2.8-acre site. A spokeswoman for Mayor John Street said Thursday that she didn't know how much the city had agreed to pay for the work.
The 10-foot-high hill of junk was created by a city demolition contractor, and was originally located in a residential neighborhood in North Philadelphia before officials had it moved near the banks of the Schuylkill River. It was supposed to have been removed in the 1980s, but never was.
