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Clandestine drug labs are an increasing problem in the United States. Once seen as only a rural issue in western states, drug labs are multiplying throughout the nation and becoming a major social, economic, and public health concern.

The most prevalent illegal drug manufactured in clandestine laboratories is methamphetamine (meth). A variety of chemicals are used to make meth. Various meth recipes include combinations of volatile organic compounds, corrosives, metals, solvents and salts. Some of these chemicals include acetone, starter fluid, freon, hexane (Coleman fuel), methanol, toluene, white gas, xylene, anhydrous ammonia, hydriodic acid, hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), phosphine, sodium hydroxide (lye), sulfuric acid (drain cleaner), iodine, lithium metal, red phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, and sodium metal. Making meth with these chemicals poses a variety of health and safety problems and environmental concerns as they can result in explosions, chemical fires, and the release of toxic gases.

Meth labs are usually discovered in houses, apartments, motel rooms, sheds, or even motor vehicles, as most meth ingredients consist of easily obtainable over-the-counter items.  These lab sites are considered hazardous waste sites by EPA and are costly to assess and clean up.  The cost of cleaning up a clandestine meth lab site can range from $3,000 to $5,000 for a relatively small operation to as much as $50,000 to $100,000 for a large site. There are usually over five pounds of waste generated for every one pound of meth product and this waste is often dumped in backyards, rural areas, in rivers, or fields.  Due to this growing national concern, Congress made properties contaminated by controlled substances, such as meth, eligible for Brownfields funding.  Although Brownfields redevelopment is not the primary solution to the emerging drug lab issue, the Brownfields Program can provide funding and technical assistance in addressing the growing problem.