The Kiantone Highway Department collected close to 150 discarded cans of whipped cream during a sweep of two roads this week. Submitted photo

Local officials aren’t kicking the can down the road when it comes to one curbside mystery. They’re simply picking the cans up.

A sweep of two roads in the town of Kiantone this week netted close to 150 discarded cans of whipped cream. The impressive cache is on top of the dozens and dozens of whipped cream containers that can be seen on Route 62 in both New York and Pennsylvania.

Their collection in Kiantone indicates the problem may be more widespread than first thought.

“Our Highway Department supervisor had seen them before, the same with beer cans and other trash,” Josh Ostrander, Kiantone town supervisor, told The Post-Journal, “but not nearly to the volume that he’s seeing now.”

As first reported by The Post-Journal and Times Observer newspapers, two mail carriers in neighboring Warren County began spotting dozens of whipped cream cans on their routes last month. A reporter observed at least three dozen cans on both sides of Route 62 while driving from New York to Pennsylvania and back.

Three cans were lying on the shoulder in front of the Warren County School District’s administration building in Russell, Pa. Another was observed outside Praise Fellowship Church nearby.

It’s believed that the cans are being used for their nitrous oxide — an odorless, colorless and non-flammable gas — that produces a short-lived high when inhaled.

On what was a sunny Tuesday, Rob Carlson, superintendent of the town Highway Department, collected 147 containers, enough to fill half of a pickup truck bed. They were gathered along Martin Road, from Route 60 to Peck Settlement Road, and on Manchester Road heading toward Jamestown.

Carlson said one Manchester Road homeowner gathered 30 cans as well.

“We’d seen some last year when we’d hit them with our mower because we couldn’t see them in time,” he said. “It seems to be more of a prevalent thing than in the past.”

Ostrander, too, has noticed the cans randomly littered in the town. However, it wasn’t until the newspaper highlighted their presence that he realized just how many were lying on the side of the road.

He said the cans, some store brand and others name brand, still contain product inside. He believes people are filling balloons with the nitrous oxide and then inhaling the gas before the cans are dumped from a car.

Carlson hopes the individuals who may be inhaling the nitrous oxide can get some help.

Ellicott Town Supervisor Janet Bowan said while the Highway Department has not come across any whipped cream cans, she said the Ellicott Police Department has. The town’s police chief could not be reached Wednesday.

As for Kiantone, the highway superintendent said the discarded cans will be taken to a transfer station for proper disposal.

“It takes time away from what we need to do,” Carlson said of picking the cans up. “It litters the whole area and makes the neighbor look bad.”