FBI drug burn mishap target of Montana DEQ investigation
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality will investigate the circumstances that led to a drug burn sickening over a dozen employees at an animal shelter in Billings.
Sept. 10, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was apparently burning methamphetamine in an incinerator primarily used by the City of Billings Animal Control Operation to burn dead animals.
The City of Billings owns and operates the incinerator, which is in the same building as the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter, a private nonprofit that leases space. The shelter is not operated by the City of Billings, but it does have contracts with the city.
The Billings Police Department has long used the incinerator for burning drugs, according to a Sept. 11 statement by the department.
In an emailed comment Friday, FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker said the agency “routinely uses outside facilities to conduct controlled drug evidence burns” and referred further questions to Billings city officials.
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The City of Billings posted a statement on the police department’s Facebook page Thursday afternoon, saying they “regret the incident.” They called the burn an “authorized destruction of illegal drugs” in the statement.
A malfunction — a “negative pressure” issue, according to Billings police — forced meth smoke into the animal shelter on Sept. 10. It was not the first time smoke going into the animal shelter had been an issue, according to a statement from Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter Executive Director Triniti Halverson last week.
The DEQ’s authority in this matter is air quality concerns and the incineration equipment, agency spokesperson Jake Garcin wrote in an email on Thursday.
The permit for the incinerator was given on March 10, 2010, to Billings Animal Control from the DEQ. Prior to that date, the permit was held by the City of Billings Animal Shelter, the permit says.
The incinerator was initially built in 2003 and was permitted by the DEQ then. The permit stipulates that animal remains can be burned and what needs to be done if materials other than animal remains are being burned.
“The Billings Animal Control shall not incinerate/cremate any material other than animal remains and/or any corresponding container unless otherwise approved by the Department,” the permit reads. “Billings Animal Control shall provide written notice to the Department and obtain approval from the Department if material other than what would normally be termed animal remains, or its container, is to be incinerated.”
The DEQ was not informed of any specific burning activities, Garcin said. Since the original permit was issued, management of the incinerator has been done at the county level, with RiverStone Health approved to oversee compliance and submitting annual reports to the state, he added.
According to a statement from RiverStone Health, doing business as the Yellowstone City-County Health Department, drugs previously incinerated at the facility had been pills and marijuana. RiverStone Health tracks what is being burned at that facility.
“Per our records, Health Department staff never witnessed or explicitly approved of the destruction of methamphetamine,” RiverStone CEO and Yellowstone City-County Health Officer Jonathan Forte wrote in a statement.
In addition to the Sept. 18 City of Billings press release, an emailed letter from RiverStone Health to the city’s animal control office said an “alternate burn” was approved on Aug. 12, 2025.
“This letter serves as RiverStone Health’s approval for the City of Billings Animal Control Division to burn the materials summarized in the notification letter,” the email reads.
A second Aug. 12 letter posted on Facebook, from Animal Control to RiverStone, said the city had been contacted by the FBI for usage of the incinerator “for disposal of illegal drugs.”
Forte wrote RiverStone Health had “no knowledge” that methamphetamine was going to be burned on Sept. 10. Halverson, the animal shelter’s director, also said she had not been informed they were going to be burning methamphetamine in her statement.
RiverStone Health, in a statement signed by Forte late Wednesday that it is “actively cooperating” with the DEQ and City of Billings.
In an email accompanying Forte’s statement, RiverStone spokesperson Casey Page wrote, “Because this is an ongoing investigation, we are not available for further comment at this time.”
In a phone call, Page said the RiverStone Health wants to let the investigation play out before commenting further on questions about what was being burned. The DEQ has only just begun its probe.
“Should DEQ determine that there was a violation, a letter would be issued to the City of Billings Animal Control and they would be allowed an opportunity to respond to that letter,” Garcin wrote. “After assessing all the information, including a response from the City of Billings Animal Control, DEQ would determine its intended path forward on the issue.”
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The DEQ said it is also looking into whatever agreement allowed the FBI to burn meth feet from an animal shelter.
“RiverStone Health is approved by DEQ to perform inspections and compliance oversight of minor sources that hold Montana Air Quality Permits in Yellowstone County, including cremation facilities,” Garcin wrote. “As part of its review of the incident, DEQ will look into the whole situation, including the ‘agreement’ referenced by Billings Animal Control.”
A Sept. 11 statement by the Billings Police Department, which runs the city’s animal control program, said the department and “partner agencies” have “long used the incinerator for narcotics destruction.”
The regulatory role of the county health department in this situation is to “ensure that the burn occurs within a permitted facility, with an operational incinerator that has been inspected regularly,” Forte wrote.
It was unclear what drugs they were allowed to burn, what they weren’t allowed to burn and what exactly the agreement between Billings Police and Animal Control, the county health department, and any relevant federal agencies for burning drugs was.
The incinerator system in question operates from 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and is a closed-loop system, according to the RiverStone Health statement.
“The equipment utilized also contains specialized afterburners and filtration systems to reduce emissions into the community with no risk to the public’s health when functioning properly,” Forte wrote.
He also laid out what the Health Department’s role in this situation is.
“RiverStone Health is contracted with DEQ to provide local compliance inspections, air quality monitoring, approval of alternative burn permits, and quarterly reports of all activities to DEQ, as part of the Yellowstone Air Quality Control Program,” Forte wrote. “Billings Police Department and the City of Billings followed the established protocols for notifying RiverStone Health environmental health staff of the scheduled burn on September 10, 2025, and it was approved based on the information provided.”
