HOUSTON, Texas — The Drug Enforcement Administration in Houston is looking for a contractor to burn 1,000 pounds of marijuana per hour through September.
The DEA’s posting says the contractor would need to have enough space and resources to burn the marijuana for eight consecutive hours per day. The burns are needed to reduce unneeded evidence from the DEA’s inventory.
The incinerator must burn 1,000 pounds of marijuana per hour, which would be delivered in “bales” or “bricks,” each weighing up to 200 pounds.
DEA agents would accompany the contractor during the burns, and all employees would receive drug tests and background checks. The DEA also requires that the contractor have surveillance cameras over the entire burn area, and DEA agents would access that closed-circuit video.
The posting also requires that the facility have a surrounding fence tall enough to block public view of the burning. The job would take place from March to September.
The DEA sent the following statement to KHOU about the position.
“Although we appreciate local citizens’ willingness to offer their help, this is a complicated, large-scale government contract we’re required by law to bid every few years, and there are usually only a handful of companies with the necessary facilities and resources to help us dispose of this material. While it makes for an interesting headline, the truth is far more prosaic – our agents working across the Houston Division make a huge number of great cases, and as a result, we seize a tremendous amount of illegal drugs. Arranging for the safe and effective destruction of these drugs is just part of the job.”
