County provides Hurricane Irma clean-up guidelines
As Lee County’s debris removal contractors mobilize to our area, the process of residents setting out debris for collection will begin. Please use the following guidelines to ensure that debris can be removed from your residential property in the most timely and efficient manner. Businesses need to contact their insurer regarding property damage and clean up.
* Most important Storm debris should be placed at the curb and not in the roadway. Placing debris in the roadway creates a hazard for traffic and emergency responders.
* Storm debris will be collected separately from your normal household trash and recycling so please keep it in separate piles.
* Regular household garbage collections have begun and will continue to proceed on the regularly scheduled collection days. Recycling and yard waste are suspended and will resume at a later date.
* The Solid Waste Division’s storm debris crews may require several passes to collect all debris depending on the severity of the impact in your area. Please monitor the news and the SWD website at leegov.com/solidwaste for detailed collection information for your specific area.
* Place debris at the curb in separate piles: garbage, yard waste, building debris, appliances and other wastes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requires documentation of the volume and type of debris collected to reimburse the county for storm clean up.
* Do not set household chemicals at the curb those need to be taken to the Topaz Court Solid Waste Annex at 6441 Topaz Court, Fort Myers, FL 33966. Mixing chemicals with your other debris creates a fire hazard.
* For the safety of the collection crews, do not place anything beneath low hanging obstacles like trees or power lines or near water meters, fire hydrants, mail boxes and especially downed power lines.
* Household garbage must be placed in a 40-gallon can or heavy mil plastic bag each weighing no more than 50 pounds. If you have a larger county-provided container for automated garbage collection, you may use that as well.
* Yard waste from this storm event does not need to be bundled. Place it in piles that can easily be managed by debris collection personnel with a claw truck.
* Only debris generated by the storm event on maintained residential property is eligible for collection. Land clearing debris from unimproved or unmaintained land is not eligible for collection and is the responsibility of the property owner.
* Food must be removed from any appliance set at the curb. Inedible food should be properly containerized or bagged and placed with the garbage.
About the Solid Waste Division
The Lee County Solid Waste Division is an enterprise system providing residents and businesses waste disposal and recycling services. The system utilizes an energy-from-waste combustion process to create clean, renewable energy and single-stream recycling for material recovery. For more information, visit website at leegov.com/solidwaste or call 239-533-8000.