Kicking off this edition of Weekly Flush is a punchy story originating from Vero Beach, Florida, reported by the Sebastion Daily. A septic truck driver for Reliable Septic Services was arrested after striking a man at the local landfill.
The victim apparently ran a stop sign and nearly collided with the driver of the septic truck, Brian Suermondt, who then followed the victim to the landfill and parked behind him while he waited to use the scale.
The victim claims Suermondt got out of his truck and started yelling profanities before flipping his middle finger. After the victim used the scale, Suermondt allegedly followed him again and confronted him, punching him on the right side of his face and knocking him to the ground before fleeing the scene.
Some might argue Suermondt’s fist is a symbol of hardworking people fed up with the impetuous actions of the careless masses, but it’s getting difficult to defend the various manifestations of violence in our world today. We can’t condone road rage. What Suermondt likely meant to say is: Septic trucks are big and dangerous, so pay attention to the damn road.
In other news, a recent report by Miami-Dade County, Florida, shows that most of the county’s septic tanks are malfunctioning due to rising seas.
The study shows that by 2040, 64 percent of the septic tanks could have yearly problems, which could impact property owners and the local water supply.
“That’s a huge deal for a developed country in 2019 to have half of the septic tanks not functioning for part of the year,” Rachel Silverstein, Miami Waterkeeper executive director, tells the Miami Herald. “That is not acceptable.”
The estimated cost of replacing those septic systems is $3.3 billion, if the forecasts of 15 inches of sea rise by 2040 have merit.
We’ll end things with this heartwarming story out of Goochland, Virginia. A crew from Stamie E. Lyttle Co. and a meteorologist from CBS 6 News surprised another member of the news team with free repairs to his broken septic tank as part of the CBS 6’s Month of Giving.
The meteorologist, Tom Patton, surprised Rob Byrne on camera as a crew from Stamie E. Lyttle Co. volunteered to repair the septic free of charge after hearing about Byrne’s problem.
“Rob, in the past has nominated his neighbors to CBS 6 Gives for their needs. But this time, Rob really needs help with something, so we’re going to go surprise him,” says Patton via CBS 6.
The news team captures the emotional moment on camera here.
