Litter pickup total for January and February

Lakes and mountains provide natural beauty in Oconee County. Unfortunately, some of the county’s beauty is marred by litter. To further public awareness of the problem, the Sheriff’s Office has released litter pickup totals for the first two months of 2018. Five thousand pounds were scooped up. Four thousand pounds of that total were picked up by Detention Center inmates. In partnership with the Wilderness Way Boys Camp in the Cleveland Community, 980 pounds of litter were picked up. The county’s Environmental Services Unit answered 47 calls for service and received 14 T.E.L.L. Kobie reports and conducted six pickups. Nine cases were investigated; four warning citations issued. The Sheriff’s Office cautions everyone to cover anything that could blow out of a truck or trailer and to not throw litter out the window. Anyone caught littering is subject to a fine of up to $1 thousand or picking up litter as community service, or both.