Police departments pool money for narcotics incinerator in Statesville

STATESVILLE, N.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) — The Statesville, Mooresville and Troutman police departments have combined resources for a tool to get rid of drugs.

Officials say the agencies have bought a clean-burning incinerator to destroy narcotics and other drugs, which cost about $60,000.

Each of the police departments paid about $16,351, and the DACI (Drug-Alcohol Coalition of Iredell) pitched in with a $10,000 grant.

Authorities say the need for this type of tool arose when a local facility ended a program that allowed law enforcement to use its incinerator.

Luckily, where the new incinerator was installed was already a heavy industrial zone, so no re-zoning was required. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality has said that no extra permits are needed unless more than five tons of material are destroyed each year, which officials say is unlikely.

According to authorities, the new incinerator will also help them continue drug takeback programs so that the community can dispose of unwanted, unused, and expired medications

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