Criminal Defense

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- The old mill in Boise Cascade's downtown is gone but most of the building materials are being recycled.

Staton Companies, a Eugene-based demolition contractor, has flattened the mill's buildings to make way for a mixed-use development. From the century-old industrial site in downtown Salem, demolition workers have recovered an estimated $250,000 to $300,000 worth of materials.

Items include old timbers that will be re-milled, possibly ending up as lumber in upscale homes. Glass bricks, a distinguishing feature of the Boise plant, have been snapped-up as souvenirs or purchased for home improvement projects. Concrete has been ground for use in road construction. Even pieces of rebar pulled from crushed concrete have been sent to scrap dealers.

Ron Richey, a partner at Staton Companies, said by total tonnage, about 96 percent of the materials from the demolition are being recycled.

"Recycling had been a dream, and now it's a reality in about four categories of demolition," he said.

Richey said viable markets exist for concrete, asphalt, wood debris and metals.

When landfill disposal fees were cheap, recycling wasn't a priority. Richey can remember when it cost $3 per ton to dispose of demolition debris.

"We even hauled a lot of metal to the landfill," he said.

Today, the cheapest disposal fee is about $40 per ton, making it a business imperative to keep as much material as possible out of the dump.

Demolition is winding down at the Boise site. The only major building left standing, known as the south warehouse, will be redeveloped.

Glass bricks are among the most requested items by people familiar with Boise's plant. The demolition contra! ctor adv ertised the bricks on Craigslist. One buyer bought about 200 of them to install in a greenhouse.

"You can buy new ones today, but they aren't like these old ones," said Richey as he stood by pallets of the gleaming recyclables. "The old ones are truly made like bricks."

Tim Gerling, a consultant hired by the Boise site's developers, said timbers from demolished buildings might be incorporated into the site's new construction.

"It's a great nod to the historical past," Gerling said, and the wood is "absolutely gorgeous."