 |
| Wilson and Domenici to Seek Funds for Meth Lab Cleanup |
March 31, 2000 |
| |
DEA Reimbursement Funds Depleted for 2000
SANTA FE -- U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson today met with New Mexico law enforcement officials to personally commit to secure new federal resources to help them recoup the cost of closing down illegal methamphetamine labs.
Wilson and Domenici today joined members of the New Mexico Sheriff’s and Police Association, as well as prosecutors from around the state to discuss a statewide strategy for dealing with the growing methamphetamine problem throughout New Mexico.
The federal lawmakers addressed the group’s concern over the depletion of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) funding for meth lab cleanup this year, a problem compounded by the fact that President Clinton’s FY2001 budget did not request any funding for this work.
In 1999, there were 29 meth labs discovered in New Mexico, which cost $73,000 to clean up. At least that many labs are expected to be found this year. Overall, the DEA has spent $100,000 a day this year to reimburse states and local governments before it ran out of money.
“The DEA’s budget hardships put our local law enforcement officers between a rock and a hard place. Meth labs are dangerous environmental hazards. Officers put their lives on the line every day busting criminals, and the dangerous nature of meth labs only adds to the hazardous nature of their jobs,” Domenici said. “It is important to make state and local governments whole for the cost of cleaning up these labs. Heather Wilson has taken the bull by the horns with this issue in the House, and I do what I can in the Senate to fix this situation.”
“I was very pleased that we were able to include $15 million to allow the DEA to help clean up meth labs that have been confiscated by local law enforcement agencies in the emergency appropriations bill that the House passed yesterday,” said Wilson. “However, it is my understanding that a letter from Janet Reno asking to reallocate funds to the methamphetamine lab program would solve this funding problem immediately. I strongly urge the Attorney General to resolve this matter without delay. It is far too important an issue in New Mexico and across the country to delay action any further.”
On Thursday, Wilson asked Attorney General Janet Reno to write a letter to House appropriators requesting permission to move Justice Department funds into the meth lab cleanup budget. Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., the chairman of the subcommittee responsible for Justice appropriations, says he will approve such a request immediately.
For FY2001, Domenici has already made a request for $21 million for methamphetamine lab cleanup costs. DEA uses COPS money and other funds to reimburse states for cleaning up meth lab sites. Due to the chemicals used to make the drug, the sites are major environmental hazards.
Last year, Domenici secured a $750,000 appropriation to expand the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program to Rio Arriba, Santa Fe and San Juan counties in order to step up the battle against heroin and methamphetamine trafficking in those regions. In all, 13 New Mexico counties now belong to the Southwest Border HIDTA.
Wilson requested, and Congress approved, $750,000 for Fiscal Year 2000 through the Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Appropriations Bill to combat methamphetamines in New Mexico’s 1st District. The Albuquerque Police Department will receive the funding, administered by the Department of Justice, in mid-summer.
Just over a year ago, Wilson attended a methamphetamine symposium organized by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. There, Wilson heard from local, state, and federal law enforcement officials on their concerns with the growing methamphetamine problem in the southwest, including a marked increase in clandestine laboratories in kitchenette-type motel or hotel rooms. These mobile labs can pose a danger to people in the vicinity, as well as to public safety officials--such as police, firefighters, and paramedics--who respond to these scenes.
--30-- |
|
|
|