Big E. Oregon pot bust needs big cleanup, too
Monday, June 27, 2011
ENTERPRISE, Ore. (AP) -- Cleaning up after marijuana growers who planted one of the largest operations ever raided by police in Oregon is going to take time and money.
A multi-agency law enforcement team has removed or destroyed 91,000 marijuana plants from U.S. Forest Service land in a remote mountain ravine in northeastern Oregon.
Now the cleanup has fallen to the Forest Service -- including the removal of piles of trash, camping gear, 54-pound bags of chemical fertilizer, insecticides and herbicides at the site in Wallowa County.
The agency is assembling a team of specialists to assess the environmental damage and plan the cleanup -- including concerns that some of the fertilizer and insecticides might be toxic and dangerous to handle.
Six men are facing federal charges in the case.
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