I know it uses far too much energy to melt this snow in the middle of winter but they really could try to figure out some way to filter the rubbish out before they pile the snow up. Maybe a snow blower thing and a mesh to catch the non snow bits.
Plus it's just a bit lazy to just leave the pile there during May/June/July. Bulldoze it flat and sprinkle charcoal (or something black) on it to absorb more heat from the sun.
(Disclaimer: I've never lived somewhere with a serious snow problem)
I don't think you have any idea of the scale of the mound. 74 feet tall over an area of 4 acres. Filtering that would cost at least tens of millions of dollars.
And no need to sprinkle charcoal. Snow mounds quickly turn black once they start melting. There's always a little bit of dirt mixed in with the snow, which becomes concentrated as the snow melts.
So how does open demo-ing a concrete building work then? Last I heard reinforced concrete was harder than ice. Not that I want to see public funds spent on breaking it up, when the sun will do the job for free if we wait, but this isn't something that construction equipment couldn't handle.
Concrete buildings aren't solid concrete. There are still a few WW2 bunkers around these parts, because it's almost impossible to demolish them, by design. And even those aren't solid concrete by any stretch.
What they really need to do (I live here) is triage.
When the snow piles up, people should be on notice that not all of it will be cleared. Major roads should be cleared for 2 lanes. Smaller streets, one lane. And the T should be kept fully operational. But the panicky response with front end loaders is the reason those snow piles are so full of debris and gross stuff.
Plus it's just a bit lazy to just leave the pile there during May/June/July. Bulldoze it flat and sprinkle charcoal (or something black) on it to absorb more heat from the sun.
(Disclaimer: I've never lived somewhere with a serious snow problem)