Chief Shane Jenkins of the McMinn County Hazardous Materials Team shows evidence from meth cases containing hazardous materials.When federal funding for meth lab cleanup suddenly was cut this year, McMinn County Sheriff Joe Guy was afraid he’d get a call that a lab exploded or was found somewhere in the county.
“We were holding our breath,” Guy said.
Before February, whenever a meth operation was uncovered, Guy would call the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to package and dispose of the lab’s toxic waste, a job that cost the county nothing. But with federal dollars gone, he had to figure out how to produce the money – $2,500 to $5,000 per lab – or create a new plan.
Because McMinn County led the state in 2010 with the highest number of raided meth labs -161 – Guy had to find a solution quick.
One of his employees heard about an idea that would slice the cleanup cost by nearly 90 percent after the initial purchases were made. Guy purchased a large bin to serve as a storage unit for meth lab contents. The county’s hazardous materials team, which works voluntarily, now takes materials collected in cleanups to this bin.