POLICY ON CLEANING UP METH LABS TO BE REVISED

A new Justice Department policy that threatens to hurt the funding of
local drug task forces will be revised, according to statements from
the offices of both U.S. senators from Missouri.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo., said a
meeting between Justice Department officials and Missouri law
enforcement representatives will be held next week to work out the
details of the revision. A statement from U.S. Sen. Jean Carnahan, D-
Mo., said she sought the change along with Bond.

State law enforcement agencies have attacked the new policy, which
would require them to pay a licensed contractor to clean up meth labs
instead of letting the Department of Natural Resources do the job.
The cost of the private contractor is $4,000 compared to $68 per
cleanup for the DNR, according to Sgt. Kevin Glaser, coordinator of
the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force.

Local drug task forces that refuse to comply would sacrifice their
share of nearly $8.7 million in federal grant funding that goes to
the state to fight drugs.

Glaser wrote Bond a letter laying out the issues. He says most of the
meth labs busted in Southeast Missouri are small compared to those in
California.

"It's a matter of them not knowing the problem we're faced with,"
Glaser said. "If we encounter 55-gallon drums we're going to have to
call in a licensed contractor. But a quart of ether and a half gallon
of drain cleaner, we can deal with that effectively."

Capt. James Keithley of the Missouri Highway Patrol was in
Washington, D.C., this week talking with Justice Department officials
about the special conditions Missouri drug enforcement officers face
in dealing with meth labs.

Ernie Blazar, Bond's spokesman, didn't know whether next week's
meeting will be held in Missouri or in Washington, D.C. "Part of the
process that is going to be used is to find out how we best revise
this rule to insure that the sheriffs and members of the drug task
force are not using money on something that is not needed," he said.

The meth problem is not going to go away, Glaser says. "It boils down
to how you are going to address the situation of cleaning them up.
Missouri has a very effective, safe way of doing it."