The production of methamphetamine is a dirty and dangerous- not to mention illegal- process. Poisonous chemicals are used, highly flammable solutions are created and toxic fumes are released. Because of this, meth labs are a health hazard and even continue to be so after they are shut down.

Jim DeVasher of the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force said places that have been used as meth labs, from vehicles to houses, are highly contaminated even after the production of meth is stopped.

Because of this public health hazard, the Kentucky General Assembly recently passed House Bill 94 or the “meth lab cleanup bill.”

“This is a much needed first step and I applaud the legislators for passing House Bill 94,” said Gov. Ernie Fletcher. “We need to have standardized guidelines for cleaning up meth labs. These guidelines should ensure that former meth labs are properly cleaned and made safe for future use. Our citizens will be well served by this bill.”

DeVasher agreed that the bill will be good for communities.

“It will be beneficial to everyone, except maybe the property owners,” DeVasher said.

Meth production and use has increased greatly over the last few years in the nation and in Logan County. DeVasher said that for a while they saw a decrease in meth, but it has picked back up again recently.

“From January first to the first of April I'd say about 50 percent of our manpower was devoted to meth,” DeVasher said.

The contamination caused by a meth lab can truly create a health hazard, DeVasher said. The chemicals used and the array of their combinations are potentially lethal and toxic. The chemicals and fumes that permeate the walls, carpets, plaster and wood in meth labs, as well as the surrounding soil, are known to cause cancer, short-term and permanent brain damage and immune and respiratory problems.

Before the meth lab clean up bill, once a meth lab was shut down, there was not real process in place to make sure it was properly cleaned. This meant that a new occupant could move into a place that had been a meth lab without knowing it and face possible health hazards.

DeVasher said he knew of people moving into an apartment who began to have sinus and other problems. They later learned it had been a meth lab.

The meth lab cleanup bill puts in place procedures that will help ensure that meth lab properties are properly cleaned. Law enforcement will notify the local public health authority and Cabinet for Health and Family Services of a property with a meth lab. It will also require public health officials to quarantine the property via physical notice and written notice to the county clerk for an official entry in the property file.

The Environmental Public Protection Cabinet will create a professional cleanup vendor certification program and CHFS will create a website to list property currently listed as contaminated from a meth cook.

“House Bill 94 helps to protect innocent children and adults from unknowingly entering a home where meth lab dangers still linger.” said Representative Tanya Pullin (D-South Shore). “House Bill 94 is also a big first step in addressing cleanup of these old meth labs and is important for environmental protection.”