Illegal dumping has long been a problem in Leon County's remote forest areas. On Saturday (10/14) County government hosted an event to encourage legal disposal of solid waste.
The County's Superintendent of Solid Waste Shawn Abbott was working at the Solid Waste Center on Apalachee Parkway.
"We have what we call an amnesty day and that's allowing residents to drop off anything they need to without limits or fees and the whole thrust of it is to try and minimize the amount of trash and garbage and tires and so forth that's being dumped into the forest," he said as vehicles rolled up to drop off disposables.
Amnesty day was also happening at the Woodville, Fort Braden and Miccosukee rural waste sites. Abbott said more such events are coming up.
"This is the very first one we've had and we plan to have this at least twice a year," he remarked.
Items dropped off on Saturday included everything from major household appliances to old paint and other chemicals dangerous to the environment.