PTA highway cleanup

Kelsey Walling/Tribune-Herald Elijiah Frost, left, picks up a water bottle while cleaning the side of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway with Ajax Tsougas, center, and Chance Tremper from the Pohakuloa Training Area on Thursday.
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A crew of nine from Pohakuloa Training Area gathered Thursday morning to help pick up trash from the side of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway.

After seeing garbage and random items on his daily drive from Hilo, operations specialist Daniel Cassel decided to coordinate a trash pick-up with volunteers.

“I just got tired of seeing trash on the highway and thought it made sense to get some people out here to help collect garbage,” Cassel said.

PTA partnered with Adopt a Highway to clean from mile marker 32 to 35. After a couple hours, the crew collected more than 30 bags of trash.

“We’re looking to do this at least once a month and not just in this particular area,” said. Lt. Col. Kevin Cronin, commander of PTA. “We’ll look for opportunities to do clean-ups in other areas on (Saddle Road) and keep up this partnership with Adopt a Highway.”