Pinellas County is offering an answer for homeowners wondering what to do with sandbags they got for Hurricane Ian.
Officials asked residents and businesses to either reuse clean sandbags or dispose of contaminated sand bags.
Any sandbags which did not come into contact with floodwaters can be safely reused or stored. Homeowners can spread the sand on their lawns or landscape beds and either resue the bag or place it in their garbage.
If you want to keep the clean sandbags for a potential future flooding event, make sure to store them in a dry place.
Pinellas County Environmental Management asked residents not to dump sandbags onto the beach as the sand that is to help stop flooding may be different from beach sand, that could cause issues for turtle nesting and other problems.
Sandbags that came in contact with flood water can become contaminated with bacteria, produce odors, and are considered dirty.
Homeowners can bring the used sandbags to the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Facility located at 3095 114th Avenue N. in St. Petersburg. Make sure to separate them from other waste. The county said disposal fees would apply.
You should not dispose of any sand or full sandbags in your regular trash. The sand will not burn in trash incinerators. Also, do not mix sandbags with yard debris. The sand is abrasive and damages equipment used to grind yard debris into mulch.
If you have questions in Pinellas County on disposing of sandbags, call the Pinellas County Department of Solid Waste at 727-464-7500.
For those who do not live in Pinellas County, you will want to call your county's Solid Waste Department for its guidelines on the reuse or disposal of sandbags.