By Scott Flood for Safety Management Group
Most construction supervisors have heard about methamphetamine (meth), but few have encountered it on the jobsite. The chemicals and process used to “cook” meth are extremely dangerous and can pose hazards for people who unwittingly encounter them. In addition, meth addicts may compromise safety on jobsites.
To help readers learn about the potential dangers, we talked with police officer Todd Knowles of the Plainfield, Indiana Police Department. In recent years, meth use has exploded in western Indiana. Located just west of Indianapolis, Plainfield has seen some of the impact of that increased use, as meth “cookers” travel into town to purchase ingredients. (Todd, the department’s resident expert on meth crimes, notes that the number of local cases has dropped significantly since stores placed limits on purchases of Sudafed, the principal ingredient.)
One recent development involves cookers stealing propane tanks from forklifts, construction equipment, and gas grills. They bleed off the propane, and then use the tanks to store anhydrous ammonia. “Some farmers receive a tank of anhydrous and store it just five feet off the road, which is like a drive-through service for the cookers,” Todd explains. “They run in, grab it, and go.” He says that cookers also use beer kegs and plastic gasoline cans to store the ammonia.
“Anhydrous seeks water, which is why it’s a hazard to humans. It’s going to go to your eyes and lungs, so it’s a very dangerous thing. Most farmers are scared to death of the stuff, but you’ll have these idiots under the influence of meth tapping into the tanks.”
Fortunately, anhydrous creates its own warning sign when it reacts with the brass in the tanks’ valves and fittings. “The metal turns a distinctive greenish-blue color,” Todd says. “If you see that color on the tank, you know that anhydrous has been in there.” Because anhydrous is pressurized and degrades the brass, a tank that has been tampered with is a serious hazard, and should not be handled. Instead, you should notify the local fire and police departments so that they can take the proper steps to remove the tank.
Todd also cautions people who use gas grills at home and swap their tanks at the local hardware or convenience store to check the tanks carefully for any sign of tampering or the greenish-blue color. “I even take my own tank to a store and have them refill it, because then I know exactly what’s been in it.”
Beyond the erratic, often violent behavior exhibited by meth users, the manufacturing process and the ingredients pose serious hazards. “The cooking process is not that hard, but it is dangerous and can affect the community,” Todd explains. “Every pound of methamphetamine that is cooked will create another five to six pounds of hazardous material.”
Newer preparation methods use the chemical reaction itself to generate heat, so an outside heat source isn’t needed. However, that makes it much easier for a cooker to conceal an operation. “The idea of someone showing up on a worksite with a meth lab in their vehicle wouldn’t surprise me a bit. They throw the chemicals into a container and don’t need to monitor it constantly. They can stop by at lunch to check on the process, and go back to work.” That simplicity (and the inherent danger) has created a new tactic, Todd adds. “In southern Indiana, they’re seeing a method where the cookers put every chemical in one bottle and throw it on the side of the road. They come back a couple hours later, and if the bottle hasn’t exploded, they have a batch of meth.”
Manufactured in small batches, meth may not be easy to detect, but there are certain odors associated with it. “During the cooking process, you’ll smell some ether and some anhydrous. The actual meth itself smells like cat urine.”
Because meth is expensive – a gram, roughly the same amount as what’s in a Sweet-n-Low packet, runs around $100 in Todd’s area – many users turn to theft. Construction sites can be prime targets. “They’ll steal anything they can pawn or sell easily, and right now metal is big. Stealing a catalytic converter off a vehicle can bring $300, which can buy three or four grams.” At those prices, cookers could become very wealthy – if nearly all weren’t addicts whose profits feed their own habits.
When asked about signs that a worker may have a meth addiction, Todd says that meth use so consumes addicts that they typically become unable to perform in the workplace. “A person who is on crack cocaine can probably hold down a job without any obvious symptoms, but someone who’s on meth can’t,” he explains. “They will be very hyper, very paranoid, and probably very confrontational. Their whole life revolves around getting and using meth, and I’ve never known a user who was able to hold down a job for long without getting into some kind of altercation.”
One other warning sign that’s more than a little strange is someone who is collecting and storing their own urine. Because meth flows rapidly through the body, some users will process their own urine to remove and re-ingest the meth residues. “It’s common among truck drivers who use meth,” Todd says. “A police officer will stop a trucker and notice jugs full of urine in the cab. We know it isn’t there because they didn’t want to stop and use the restroom.”