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By Bill
Kucharski
The types of issues that
environmental professionals deal with every day never seem to
get smaller. Having dealt with air, water, hazardous waste
disposals and TMDLs we now find ourselves immersed in areas
that might seem far distant from our main calling. Drug
manufacturing is not thought by most to be in any way
associated with environmental compliance or environmental
safety. While drugs can kill or incapacitate our children and
drug addiction and prevention are very large and important
programs, how do we connect the illegal production and
distribution of illicit drugs to the environment? The
production of one street drug, methamphetamine or meth,
utilizes many toxic and dangerous chemicals in its creation
such as anhydrous ammonium, methyl alcohol, white gas,
sulfuric acid, mineral spirits, hydrochloric acid, ether,
muriatic acid, lithium, iodine crystals and red phosphorus to
name a few. When an illegal laboratory is set up, these
chemicals can be utilized in large quantities and when the law
enforcement officers interdict and close these labs, there
are, in many instances, residual chemicals left over. These
chemicals, according to established environmental statutes
must be handled in a safe and professional way.
Many states
have begun to create innovative ways in which they can
interact with and support the law enforcement personnel in
their states. When a drug manufacturing facility is raided by
the police, the last thing on the police mind is hazardous
waste material handling. Being shot at does not inspire
environmental responsiveness. Once the raid is complete, the
lab has become a crime scene and different rules apply there.
The obligation to handle and store hazardous chemicals
according to existing law and statues does not go away just
because the activity that caused the residuals is drug
related. Cooperation and coordination are required in such
multi-agency jurisdictional issues.
This column
will address some of the issues associated with drug labs and
how Missouri has addressed these issues. My thanks to John
Young of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for
allowing me to use the Missouri program for this column.
The
Problem:
In 1999 and
2000 Missouri State police raided and seized over 1200 meth
labs. The actual number of raids and closures in Missouri
during this period is known to be larger than the 1200 noted
due to the multiple jurisdictions (e.g. local police units or
federal agencies) involved and different reporting
requirements from these jurisdictions. Suffice it to say there
is a problem. Related problems of the illegal labs include
chemical thefts and the diversion of legitimate chemicals into
illegal uses. When a lab is found and closed by authorities,
law enforcement officials seize the production chemicals and
they are taken and held by the authorities for various
reasons: as evidence, for disposal or just to keep them off of
the street. Whatever the reason, once these chemicals are
under the control of state officials, there are legal, safety
and regulatory obligations that reside with their storage.
Chemicals should be separated by hazard class for example. In
those situations where a clandestine lab has operated and not
been discovered, there are also residual wastes that are left
behind and these wastes provide risks that also require
addressing. Residuals are also dumped on the side of roads
and into non-hazardous dumping locations. Some sites have been
discovered where residual chemicals were burned in open pits.
While the illegal dumping issues are important, they are not
particularly controllable. What can be controlled is the case
where legal authorities seize these chemicals and the agency
then has the responsibility to handle and store these
chemicals according to the law.
Are law
enforcement officials as informed about hazardous waste
considerations as environmental professionals? Without an
explicit training program for state law enforcement
professionals, the probability that a line officer will be
aware of the environmental nuances of hazardous waste
treatment and handling is slim. Because of this basic reality,
training is an important part of the Missouri approach to
handling this problem. Ecology & Environment provides much of
the training to the state on this issue. The basis of concern
is the proper identification, handling and storage of the
precursor chemicals. Before proper training, captured
chemicals have been thrown together without separation or have
“disappeared “ into dumpsters, down drains or into burn pits.
By implementing a rigorous training program, this is no longer
the case.
Prior to
1998, MoDNR had had sporadic requests for help from law
enforcement. The initial approach was to require the Missouri
Environmental Emergency Response (EER) group to respond to
every meth lab raid. This proved to be expensive and very time
consuming because the response contractor would dispose of
each set of chemicals seized when it was seized. In short,
every raid was a separate problem and all services were
utilized each time. Support was also provided by the US Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA). DEA had contractors assigned
to remove and dispose of these chemicals; however, service was
sporadic and not always timely.
To coordinate
state and federal responses, the governor established a
Missouri Interagency Clandestine Lab Task Force. Multiple
state and federal agencies were invited to participate.
Missouri Departments of Natural Resources, Public Safety,
Health and State Highway Patrol, State Fire Marshal’s Office,
Attorney general and the Mo. Army National Guard. Other
agencies included US EPA, and US DEA. Safe chemical handling
and storage awareness were established through many hours of
debate and discussion. U.S. EPA and the Missouri Department of
Health (MoDH) worked with the Task force to help clarify some
of the problems. EPA collected over 150 discrete samples from
abandoned meth lab locations and together with the MoDH
established health based cleanup information for the public.
The MoDH wrote and distributed pamphlets that discussed health
effects and guidelines to help one determine whether a site
had been used to manufacture meth. One primary target was
landlords who might have rented, unknowingly, property to drug
manufacturers. The decontamination process for furniture,
rugs, plumbing and HVAC areas are covered by the brochure.
One of the
top priorities established by the Task force was to create a
Clandestine Drug Lab Collection Station. The collection
stations were designed to provide the following: safe and
lawful temporary storage; reduced hazards to the public and
the environment, reduced down time for law enforcement
officials; provided health and safety training, equipment and
supplies to law enforcement; and provided for cost effective
management of drug lab chemicals and debris. MoDNR has
authority under Missouri statutes to authorize exceptions to
certain hazardous waste rules (such as manifesting) under
certain conditions.
Agencies,
such as Fire Marshal, state Highway patrol, and other sate and
local Mo. agencies can gain authorization from MoDNR to have
drug lab collection stations. These individual stations
provide easy to use hazardous waste class separation sections
and test kits to determine classification of wastes. Shelves
have 1" spill containment lips, and the shelves are locked in
place. The base of the structure has secondary containment and
skid-proof flooring. There are passive air vents and an
explosion panel to direct any blast away from people. A dry
chemical fire suppressant system and bulk hazardous waste
containment drums are also included in the structure. There
are manufactured storage sheds just for this purpose and they
are 12' L x 9' H x 6'W. These collection stations are small
enough that they are prefabricated and large enough to store
most collected chemicals for a reasonable period of time (less
than 90 days). Station contents can be consolidated for
disposal and cost saving thereby accrued.
There are
many subtle issues associated with the establishment of these
collection locations. As you know, a manifest is required
before one can transport a known hazardous waste from its site
of generation. Storage facilities require a detailed permit
and the list goes on and on. Missouri has been able to comply
with these requirements in a responsible manner. One of the
things that helped the MoDNR was the ability, under state law,
to make exceptions to hazardous waste regulations under
certain circumstances. This is one of those circumstances.
There
are specific paperwork requirements and detailed training
required for participating agencies. Specifics can be obtained
from the MoDNR. The resultant cost for this program is orders
of magnitude less than the EER process originally utilized
(Traditional DEA or federal cleanup costs average over $2000
per event). An extra added value of this program is the
awareness of things environmental that are transmitted to
other government officials. This type of activity trains
educates and increases awareness of basic environmental issues
like few other activities. If your state would like to get
more information about this program, or where you might obtain
training for your personnel, please send an email to
wkucharski@ene.com or contact Missouri. DNR directly, Mr.
Brad Harris, at
nrharrb@mail.dnr.state.mo.us
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