The 2018 Sumter County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) bi-annual amnesty day was a tremendous success. Sumter County’s Amnesty Day takes place through the partnership with Marion County and its contract with Perma-Fix in the collection of hazardous materials along with various recycling vendors. On November 3, 2018, amnesty day was organized and manned by the Brush Crew from the Public Works Department and was benefited this year by the utilization of an alternative work schedule designed to save on overtime expenses for BOCC planned events.
The county employees that participated in this amnesty day are as follows: Bobby Riley, Greg Seay, Timmy Naegele, Ben Gant, Jeremy Wallen, Andy Lee, Basil Beckelheimer, and Michael Walsh Sumter County’s staff is responsible for the taking of surveys, traffic control, and forklift operations. The county staff conducted 1,232 surveys, 560 pounds or eighteen (18) propane cylinders, thirteen (13) fire extinguishers, and disposed of 4,180 pounds or 2.09 tons of solid waste at Heart of Florida’s landfill. This event brought in an increase from last year's Spring event on November 4, 2017, with an increase of around 294 participants.
In addition to the material noted above, through our partnership with Marion County we provided for the safe disposal of automotive fluids, fluorescent lamps, rechargeable household batteries, and household electronics (TVs, VCRs, computers, etc.). The volume of these fluids and items filled two (2) trailers with multiple fifty-five (55) gallon drums of oil, gas, antifreeze, and fluorescent bulbs, plus forty-six (46) pallets of electronics.
Perma-Fix uses fifty-five (55) gallon drums to transport all of the collected hazardous materials and pallets for paints that are processed by its facility. They are responsible for collecting the following items: cleaners, fertilizers, mercury-containing devices, fungicides, wood preservatives, herbicides, all paints, paint removers, paint thinners, pesticides, pool chemicals, solvents, and smoke detectors. Perma-Fix utilized two (2) 53’ semi-trailers to transport the materials.