Local Officials To Testify At Legislature

By Gordon HopkinsMark Schoenrock, Chairman of the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners, and Peggy Galloway, Director of Diversion Services, will be speaking in front of the Nebraska Legislature on Thursday, February 17.They will be testifying in support of LB (Legislative Bill) 756, which would change provisions in current law relating to properties contaminated by methamphetamine.The bill was introduced by Nebraska Senator Tom Brandt (District 32) and would eliminate reference to “clandestine drug lab” and replaces it with the language “contaminated property.”The bill clarifies the definition of “contaminated property” to specify a portion of the property was previously used to manufacture methamphetamine.In addition, according to the bill's statement of intent, “LB756 also changes procedures for reporting contaminated property and enforcing habitation. Law enforcement need not give notice of the contamination to the property owner if the owner notified law enforcement in the first place. It also eliminates the requirement for law enforcement to notify the State Patrol with a list of chemicals found or removed from the property. The local public health authority becomes responsible for supervising and enforcing the property owner’s rehabilitation of the property to a habitable state.”According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “Contamination of residential homes with methamphetamine is an emerging issue of significant concern to public health. Cooking or smoking methamphetamine in a residential property contaminates the house, furnishings and personal possessions within it, with subsequent exposure through ingestion, dermal absorption and/or inhalation causing adverse health effects.”Schoenrock said this week at a meeting of the commissioners, “Peggy and I are working on our testimony and we're looking forward to that presentation. That will be a committee hearing. And we're confident that we'll be able to get that out of committee and hopefully get out onto the floor and have that signed into law this year. But I think it's going to go a long way toward addressing the methamphetamine scourge on our society.”Should the bill pass, enforcement would be the responsibility of Public Health Solutions (PHS), which has the duty of monitoring environmental hazards.

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