POLICE `POT' FIRE BURNS RURAL RESIDENTS

MANITOBA ENVIRONMENT is investigating after RCMP used diesel fuel to send
almost $2-million worth of marijuana up in smoke on the weekend.

``Burning of marijuana is a pretty unique complaint for us,'' said Al Beck,
Interlake regional supervisor for Manitoba Environment.

Mounties in Fisher Branch destroyed the marijuana, which was seized earlier
this month from area fields, on Friday evening. They asked the Fisher Branch
volunteer fire department to burn it for them at a gravel pit near Broad
Valley.

Afterwards, three residents lodged complaints, upset that the diesel fuel
used to burn the marijuana may have contaminated an underground reservoir.

``There is no mention of smoke in the complaints,'' Beck said. ``Local
people are concerned it may have contaminated the aquifer.''

A bedding of hay bales was doused with diesel fuel, almost 2,000 marijuana
plants were laid on top and the whole thing was set ablaze, Beck said.

A Manitoba Environment investigator will examine the burn site for diesel
residue.

The pot comes from an outdoor grow operation 120 kilometres north of
Winnipeg. It was burned at the isolated gravel pit largely for security
reasons, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Gerry Jennings.

``Where do you store what amounts to one semi-(truck load) of marijuana?''
Jennings said.

The fields and seized marijuana were photographed, and a few plants were
preserved as evidence. The remainder was too cumbersome to store safely,
Jennings said.

``When you have that much, that's how you do it. Otherwise, you have storage
and security problems,'' he said.

Jennings said police asked the fire department to burn the plants to ensure
safe conditions.

``It's not a whole lot different than burning green hay,'' he said.

Fisher Branch RCMP Cpl. Larry Lavallee said proper RCMP procedures were
followed to dispose of the marijuana. John Plett, who heads the fire brigade
that burned the marijuana, said he didn't believe there was any cause for
alarm. The burn was about two kilometres from the nearest residence, he
said.

The burn site, said Jennings, has been cleaned.

``The area has been completely restored. You wouldn't be able to find where
that burn took place,'' he said.

Checked-by: Don Beck