CLEAN SWEEP FIGHTS TRASH
Read this at News-press.com
Merle Banek of Lehigh Acres wrote to the News Star saying "People caught for illegally dumping trash or tossing it from their cars should be fined and the monies put to use in cleaning up our public roadsides." Mr. Banek, you have repeated a major complaint that prevails throughout the community, we are tired of the people who are doing this. A group of people who worked on Lee Boulevard on Earth Day 2004 decided to form a group to combat littering and dumping and named their team the Lehigh Clean Sweep. We have been meeting monthly to find out why these filthy practices prevail.
Folks, pay attention to the county services provided instead of hauling trash to some street and dumping it off. We need faithful volunteer assistance to develop the Litter Lookout Program and organize neighbors to take on streets as adopted roads. We need financing and people to call in when dumping is in progress and get license plate numbers. We need video footage of such occurrences, too, if possible. When you have a pile in your road, call the solid waste department at 338-3302.
We recently found that there are laws on the books under Florida Statute 403.413 that make it a felony to dump more than 500 pounds, or if it is a commercial operator, just 15 pounds. Offenders can be made to clean up a large area or lose their truck, their license and serve time in jail, but our sheriff's force is too under-staffed.
