STATE'S PLANS TO DESTROY SEIZED DRUGS HAVE GONE UP IN SMOKE

KENNEWICK -- Seizing controlled substances such as methamphetamine,
cocaine and heroin is one thing.

Getting rid of such materials is quite another, especially
lately.

For nine years, drugs seized by authorities all over the state were
destroyed at the Spokane Regional Waste Energy Incinerator.

"We were getting drugs (to burn) from all over, Seattle and the Tri-
Cities," said Damon Taam, contractor for the Spokane
incinerator.

The quantities weren't huge, amounting to about a mini-van load every
month.

But since June, the incinerator's been off limits under state
Department of Ecology guidelines for destruction of dangerous substances.

The incinerator had been the only facility in Washington that burned
up illegal drugs, so the decision to stop reduced the options to none.

No one questioned the practice for nine years, Taam
said.

Then last spring, someone at Washington State University's medical
program had second thoughts about tossing medical wastes into an
incinerator.

The wastes at issue were regulated by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and school officials were worried about liability,
said Ecology Department spokeswoman Caitlin Cormier.

"They said, 'Hey, this might be hazardous waste,"' she
said.

Those second thoughts evolved into an official designation of non-
biological medical wastes as hazardous -- a designation that triggered
the Ecology rules.

Ecology requires permits for incinerators that handle dangerous waste,
said Cormier. "We have to look at what happens when you burn this
stuff, and what goes into the air," she said.

For Benton County Sheriff Larry Taylor, the change means storing
bricks of cocaine, bundles of marijuana and baggies of heroin and
methamphetamine in the evidence locker until further notice.

"We have a problem, so it just builds up," he said.

Kennewick Police Chief Marc Harden said, "We'd love to be able to get
rid of the stuff. The more you have, the more the security risk, too."

Cormier said the solution may involve a change in agency rules. A Dec.
31 memorandum suggested an amendment to exempt street drugs as a
dangerous waste and allow them to be burned.

Another possibility is use of the Covanta Corp. waste-energy plant
near Salem, Ore. Negotiations are under way.

Taam said the incinerator can consume more than 800 tons of material a
day, with temperatures reaching 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The charge
is $132.75 a ton, with a 140-pound minimum.