Pubdate: Wed, 17 Dec 2003
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2003 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Associated Press

FEDERAL PILOT PROGRAM FOR STORING CHEMICALS IN METH SEIZURES BEGINS IN 
KENTUCKY

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky is the first state to receive a federal grant 
that will improve the way police store confiscated chemicals used to make 
methamphetamine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will allocate $300,000 to the state 
starting next month for storage containers that hold up to 220 pounds of 
chemicals.

The money will also go to help pay specially trained contractors who will 
empty the containers each week, disposing of the chemicals according to 
federal guidelines.

Kentucky State Police have had some containers since 1999, and the program 
will allow an expansion of that effort.

DEA officials say Kentucky was chosen for the pilot effort because of its 
growing and statewide methamphetamine problem, which they blame in part on 
an increase in "tweaker labs" or "mom and pops," which can brew a batch of 
the stimulant in a few hours.

Numbers recorded by the El Paso Intelligence Center, which tracks meth lab 
seizures, show that 19 labs were seized throughout Kentucky in 1998 - a 
number that increased to 372 last year.

State law enforcement officials say that number likely is too low. They 
estimate that less than half of the labs seized are included in the 
center's numbers because many law enforcement agencies don't consistently 
report seizures.

As the numbers grow, the state has had trouble getting contract cleanup 
companies to respond immediately to the seized labs, said Will Glaspy, a 
DEA spokesman in Washington, D.C. As a result, officers have to wait at the 
scene - sometimes for as long as 36 hours - until it can be cleared.

The new system will allow officers to transport the chemicals in buckets to 
the storage containers at the post for pickup.

"We're more or less looking at this as a pilot project," said Glaspy. 
"We're going to have to evaluate it to see if it's cost-effective and saves 
time. We want to see how it works before it is tried elsewhere."

An 8-by-10-foot container will be stationed at each of the 16 Kentucky 
State Police posts in the next several months. There, trained officers can 
take properly packed confiscated labs for storage.

Officials with the state police, which initiated the cleanup project on a 
smaller scale four years ago, say it will save agencies hundreds of hours 
of officers' time and could slash overall cleanup costs for a typical lab 
to $500 from an average of $4,000 to $6,000.

Law-enforcement officials from the state police and the local DEA office 
met Monday to discuss details of the expanded program, including the 
training necessary for officers who will work with the containers.

Officers across the state already have been trained in how to deal with 
meth-making chemicals, from anhydrous ammonia and ether to household 
chemicals like drain cleaner and starter fluid, which can cause respiratory 
and nerve damage.

"The average citizen doesn't realize the toxicity of these chemicals," said 
Capt. Mitch Bailey, commander of the state police's western drug 
enforcement branch in Bowling Green. "Our concern is with vapors that are 
associated with these labs and combining different solvents and compounds."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman