Meth lab quarantine procedure revamped

By Ginny LaRoe Staff Writer
Chattanooga Times Free Press Article

A new, streamlined system and recent training may increase the number of properties law enforcement officials quarantine after finding methamphetamine labs, said Detective Tim Yates with the Chattanooga Police Department narcotics division.
!It was all new, so we really weren’t sure of the legalities of it,! Mr. Yates said of new laws that require law enforcement officials to take certain steps if they quarantine property. !Now we are going to start quarantining.!
One of the provisions of the Meth-Free Tennessee Act, which was signed into law March 30, requires law enforcement to inform the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation within seven days of issuing a quarantine. A law that took effect in July requires police to report to the register of deeds any properties that have been quarantined.
Police Chief Steve Parks said the Chattanooga department has not quarantined any properties since the law took effect. Officials from other agencies said it was rare, as well. There were 15 meth lab seizures in Hamilton County from July through October, according to the South/East Methamphetamine Task Force.
The task force held trainingtrain - train- ing sessions this month for local law enforcement on the new quarantine procedures, said Lt. Tommy Farmer of the Hamilton County Sheriff ’s Department and the task force. He said police have been given flip charts with specific guidelines on quarantine procedures, and a new computer system is in place.
!There were some things in the new law and some procedural things that needed to be worked out,! Lt. Farmer said.
Now all officers have to do is fill out a form on their computer and print out forms to be mailed to the county’s register of deeds and to the property owner, he said.
Tisha Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for TDEC, said law enforcement had the ability to quarantine properties before the new laws took effect. It is a misdemeanor for anyone to offer for rent or to live in a property that has been quarantined. But the law does not mandate police to quarantine a property if there was a working meth lab. It is up to the discretion of law enforcement, officials said.
There are only five properties in the state, one in Hamilton County, on TDEC’s registry of quarantined properties. These properties are where owners failed to decontaminate in 60 days after the lab was discovered.
Lt. Farmer said when a property is quarantined, the property owner has to hire a state-certifiedstate - certified statecertified hygienist from a list provided by TDEC. The hygienist will assess the property, and a contractor will clean up the property. The hygienist then inspects the site to ensure the cleanup was effective.
!If it is (safe), then law enforcement issues a release,! Lt. Farmer said.
He said people exposed to the chemicals used to make meth may experience respiratory problems, skin irritations and nausea. He said the longterm effects from exposure are not known.
Detective Yates said before the new law, the department notified the owner there had been a lab on the property that needed to be professionally cleaned.
!Property owners have been real good about having professional cleanup and decontamination,! he said.
East Ridge Detective Josh Creel said police there have issued two quarantines since the laws took effect. He said property owners he has dealt with have been cooperative and !didn’t blame law enforcement.!
Detective Creel said he wasn’t concerned about the extra responsibility on law enforcement to quarantine.
!It would be more of a liability if we did not tell anybody,! he said. !It’s like leaving an open pit for somebody to walk into.!