From the archive | Cleaning up contamination: What happens to Utah’s meth houses

Jared Herbert, the foreman for the Meth Mob, removes carpet from a contaminated house in Payson, Utah. Meth Mob is a Provo decontamination company focused on cleaning "meth houses."

I’ll be sharing stories from the past years that have had an impact on me and also showcase some early work as a photojournalist.

Reflecting on the images from past assignments is a helpful reminder of what has changed and what has remained the same. This particular story was a unique one—access to the space was limited due to health hazards, and it was rather repetitive for the majority of the time that I was there.

Jared was very open to being photographed, but his company wanted to keep the location relatively discrete, which also meant that the scope of the images was focused on the removal of debris from the house.

These three images are some of my favorites from the take and highlight the precautions that Jared must take in order to begin the process of decontaminating a house that had meth used or made within it.

You can read the original story here.

Jared Herbert, the foreman for the Meth Mob, prepares to remove carpet and other materials from a contaminated house in Payson, Utah. Meth Mob is a Provo decontamination company focused on cleaning "meth houses."

Jared Herbert, the foreman for the Meth Mob, removes carpet from a contaminated house in Payson, Utah. Meth Mob is a Provo decontamination company focused on cleaning "meth houses."