PROGRAM AIMS TO CLEANSE AIR OF CHEMICALS

Methamphetamine can threaten the health of more than just the people who
make it and take it.

State officials say neighbors of those who produce the illegal drug in
clandestine labs sometimes unwittingly breathe air containing fumes and
chemicals from meth production.

Trevor Flynn, administrative coordinator of the Kansas Meth Lab Cleanup
Program, said the state has received several reports of people becoming ill
because of breathing air containing ether or anhydrous ammonia, chemicals
that can be used to make meth.

"We hear a lot of reports of neighbors complaining of breathing
difficulties," Flynn said.

Concern over meth labs' effects on public health in Kansas prompted state
lawmakers last year to pass the Chemical Control Act, which formed the meth
lab chemical cleanup program.

The program, administered by the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment, oversees cleanup efforts at meth labs seized by law enforcement
officers and works with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to educate
Kansans about problems associated with meth.

KDHE Secretary Clyde D. Graeber noted that exposure to chemicals used to
make meth can cause innocent neighbors or passersby to suffer respiratory
illness, skin and eye irritation, headaches, nausea and vomiting.

"It's important to focus on the personal, social and financial costs
associated with illegal drug use," Graeber said. "This program takes a
unique approach because it responds to the physical danger posed by the labs
themselves while making meth production more difficult."

KDHE official Bob Jurgens supervises the cleanup program. Its staff consists
of Flynn and technical coordinator Paul Belt.

Jurgens said about 40 percent of the program's efforts involve overseeing
the cleanup of meth labs, perhaps 25 percent involves training law
enforcement on meth-related issues and the rest involves educating the
public.

As of May 10, law enforcement officers in Kansas this year had made 265
seizures of meth labs.

Police say meth makers use such items as cold or allergy tablets, rubbing
alcohol, toluene, ether, anhydrous ammonia and lye or drain cleaner to
produce the drug in "labs" that are typically low rent and low tech.

Once a law enforcement agency contacts the KDHE cleanup program about a
seized meth lab, Flynn said, the state makes sure that chemicals from the
lab are disposed of properly.

The KDHE cleanup program has been involved with the disposal of materials
from about 70 meth labs, beginning in February, Flynn said.

"A lot of law enforcement agencies don't realize this service is out here
yet," he said.

Flynn said the cleanup program oversees work done under contract by a
hazardous materials cleanup company, which disposes of waste from seized
meth labs or sites where meth makers have dumped materials used to make the
drug.

Whereas meth labs once were most commonly found in rural areas, Flynn said,
he has found that production of the drug is "not just a rural problem any
more."

Flynn said KDHE has responded to meth lab scenes in basements, storage
sheds, detached garages, mobile homes, vehicles and even outdoors in the
woods.

"It's really anywhere and everywhere," he said. "We've been to a couple
houses that were really nice and a couple that looked like they could barely
stand up."

Flynn said meth makers often burn waste materials in backyard pits,
releasing potentially toxic gases and increasing the chance that solvents
will seep into the soil and contaminate septic systems or groundwater
leading to public bodies of water.

"It's really hard to tell right now how contamination affects the health of
people," Flynn said, but state officials don't want to take any chances. He
noted that some chemicals used to make meth are known or suspected to cause
cancer.

Jurgens said the KDHE cleanup program also has been working to increase
knowledge about meth labs and the chemicals used among workers who may come
into contact with waste materials, including police officers, rescue
workers, road workers, public health employees and landlords.

The cleanup program also is in the early stages of promoting a public
awareness campaign, "MethWatch," in which it encourages retailers to submit
to the KBI reports of transactions involving large quantities of items used
to make meth.