Investigations :: January 17, 2007

Methamphetamine Abuse and Clean-Up

In an effort to assist state and local authorities in cleaning up the scourge of methamphetamine use and production in their local communities, Chairman Bart Gordon authored the legislation which initiate standards for meth clean-up.  Similar legislation passed the full House in the 109th Congress (H.R. 798).

Legislation designed to stem the scourge of methamphetamine (meth) in local communities was approved by both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate in the first session of the 110th Congress - and signed into law by the President.

"We have a duty to protect innocent families not only from the criminals who make and use this illegal drug, but also from the aftereffects of that crime," said the bill’s author, House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN).

H.R. 365, the Methamphetamine Remediation Act of 2007 - which passed the House on February 7 and the Senate on December 11 - requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop model, voluntary, health-based clean-up guidelines for use by states and localities with the goal of making sure the sites of former meth labs are safe and livable.

The bill was signed into law by the President on December 21, 2007.

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A federal Web site has been created to provide the public with comprehensive information regarding methamphetamine abuse.

"This site, www.methresources.gov, provides tips for parents, information about legislation that may affect business owners and links to grants available to assist state and local officials," said Gordon, dean of Tennessee’s congressional delegation.

The Office of the National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are sponsoring the site.

"This site can serve just about anyone who is seeking information about the meth epidemic, which has hit our state especially hard," said Gordon.

In its first full Committee meeting of the 110th Congress, the House Committee on Science and Technology approved three pieces of broadly supported bipartisan legislation - one of which was specifically aimed at cleaning up methamphetamine abuse in local communities.

"I’m proud these bills are the first to clear our Committee in the new Congress," said Chairman Gordon.  "One will bring much needed help to state and local law enforcement communities working to combat our country’s dangerous 'meth' problem."

H.R 365, the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2007, cleared the Committee with unanimous support.  The legislation focuses on the clean-up needs for former methamphetamine or "meth" labs – one of the most devastating problems facing communities across the country.

"While Tennessee has been hit especially hard by meth abuse, the problem isn’t limited to any one state," said Gordon.  "We must take action now to get this dangerous drug out of our nation’s communities and to clean up former meth labs."

On December 13, 2005, legislation authored by Science Committee Ranking Member Bart Gordon (D-TN) to stem the scourge of methamphetamine (meth) in local communities, unanimously passed the U.S. House of Representatives.

H.R. 798, The Methamphetamine Research Remediation Act, will protect unsuspecting families from the dangers of illegal meth labs and provide needed tools for law enforcement to detect labs throughout the community.

"Meth production is an all too common problem in local communities across the country," stated Rep. Gordon.  "I wrote this bill to address a specific problem in Tennessee, but the legislation’s benefit will extend far beyond my state’s borders to protect unsuspecting families living in homes that were once illegal meth labs."

Read the complete press release »

The Nashville Tennessean commented on Mr. Gordon's legislation in an editorial published on January 6.

TO:              DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS
FROM:         BART GORDON, RANKING MEMBER
SUBJECT:    METHAMPHETAMINE FIELD EVENT

Last year I sponsored a Science Committee field event regarding the methamphetamine problem in my district. This event highlighted issues related to this problem which lie within the Committee's jurisdiction. I believe the model for my event could easily be adopted to meet the needs of Members who may also have a meth problem in their area and I wanted to explain what I did....

Mr. Gordon's methamphetamine event was held May 10, 2004, on the campus of Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee. The roundtable allowed state and local officials to share their insights from dealing with the social upheaval and the toxic legacy of methamphetamine production in middle Tennessee. Gordon's Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act draws directly on the discussion at the roundtable. For more on these discussions, read the Committee staff report prepared at Mr. Gordon's direction.

Methamphetamine Abuse: The Search for Solutions »

Arnold, Missouri, was the scene of the Jefferson County Methamphetamine Summit sponsored by Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO) on June 26, 2005. Local law enforcement officials described their immediate concerns as the lack of laboratory help to confirm that seized drugs were indeed methamphetamine in time to support prosecutions, and the excessive time local police had to spend in site decontaminations. Mr. Carnahan has co-sponsored legislation to address those concerns. In July, Rep. Carnahan hosted a similar event in St. Genevieve, Misoouri.

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