POT BURNS; NEIGHBORS FUME

The odor from an incinerator that disposes of seized marijuana has workers
next door feeling mighty low. The facility's owner says he has not received
complaints, though daytime burns may be halted.

Workers near a South Side plant that destroys seized marijuana are asking
the firm to mellow out on the daytime burns.

They say the drifting smoke not only reeks, but also causes health problems.

"Every time they burn it, I get a headache," said Bob Bachani, a manager at
CLG Steel Co. Inc., 4361 E. Tennessee St.

The nearby AMCEP plant recently began burning police-seized marijuana
during the morning hours, Bachani said.

"In our warehouse there are four new coolers, and it just sucks the stuff
in," he said.

Bachani, 46, has filed two complaints with the county Department of
Environmental Quality this year.

Other CLG employees said breathing the pungent fumes makes them nauseated.
None reported feeling "high."

"It just makes you so sick to your stomach," said Marti Affleck, 25, a
receptionist at CLG, near South Alvernon Way and East Irvington Road.

"It didn't help morning sickness, either," added Affleck, who gave birth to
a girl Oct. 25 without complications. "The nausea was even worse."

Pima County health authorities may order the AMCEP recycling business to
stop burning the drug during the day.

DEQ Director Ursula Kramer is in discussion with the Pima County Attorney's
Office on ways to limit the plant's burning activities to night hours.

"We're going to see if it's legal for us to put some recommendation for
burning times in the permit," DEQ program manager Beth Gorman said. "So,
that's where we're going to start and see what comes of that."

The county issued a permit to AMCEP in 1993, authorizing the company to
conduct the burns as long as emissions did not exceed the agency's limits,
Gorman said.

According to AMCEP's permit, no "visible emissions" are allowed from the
furnace feed door.

Odor, however - and nearby workers say there most definitely is odor - is
virtually impossible for DEQ to regulate, Gorman said.

"(Odor) is so much more subjective to the individual. It's difficult to
enforce," she said. Gorman noted that AMCEP has not violated any county
permit conditions.

AMCEP owner Steve Kippur, who took over the facility about two years ago,
said federal, state and local authorities have destroyed "contraband" in
the 1,000-cubic-foot incinerator at the site for more than 15 years.

Kippur said he has not been contacted by the DEQ or neighboring businesses
about complaints.

The burning will be reduced to once a week, starting in a few months, but
that move is a business decision made for convenience, not because of any
pressure or complaints, he said.

Kippur acknowledged the fumes of burning marijuana waft off AMCEP's
property, but only when the wind blows.

"Most of the time, no one has a clue that we're burning anything," he said.

Affleck insists the fumes made her ill at least twice a week during her
16-month tenure at CLG.

"It didn't occur to me how bad it was until our new salesman said he
thought one of our employees was smoking marijuana," Affleck said.

"When I told him it was coming from across the street, he didn't believe
me. He thought it was someone actually smoking in the warehouse."

Kippur said authorities use the AMCEP site because it is the only facility
in Arizona capable of handling the burning of marijuana.

Conducting the burns at night would jeopardize the lives of the armed law
enforcement agents who bring the drugs to AMCEP, Kippur said.

"There's a huge risk to the agents when you can't see what's coming,"
Kippur said. "Primary consideration here ... is safety and security for the
agents and for our employees."

In 1998, about 500 pounds of marijuana brought by U.S. Customs Service
agents from Texas were stolen from the plant.

It was then called Tucson Iron and Metal.

Street value of the stolen marijuana was $250,000 to $375,000, authorities said.