By Lisa Autry
Bowling Green, KY – Federal funding for methamphetamine clean-up is running out across the country, but Kentucky is getting a break. State police say after losing drug enforcement agency dollars earlier this year, Kentucky is one of five states that will continue to receive funding. The states chosen have seen meth lab seizures skyrocket. KSP trooper Jon Hawkins says local law enforcement clean up the sites and transport the chemicals to an offsite location:
"At that point we call for a contractor to come, basically pick them up and destroy them. There is where the DEA gets involved. They have agreed to pay for the contractor to come to our storage container and pick up the chemicals and destroy them. It's a huge savings for us"
The DEA estimates it spent 145-thousand dollars last year disposing of meth lab waste in Kentucky. Last year, Kentucky law enforcement uncovered more than a thousand meth labs, the third highest number in the country.