Pubdate: Sun, 24 Apr 2005 Source: Dothan Eagle, The (AL) Copyright: 2005 The Dothan Eagle Contact: http://www.dothaneagle.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3077 Author: Mark Randall, Eagle Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) HAZARDOUS REMAINS: METHAMPHETAMINE MENACE HITS ALABAMA As methamphetamine has swept the country, most people have heard about the devastating effects the toxic drug has on users' bodies. With ingredients like Red Devil lye, iodine and battery acid, it should be no surprise what it can do to the human body. It should also be no surprise what kind of toxic mess is left behind in the houses, apartments, motel rooms and trailers where the drug is often manufactured. All too often, it is an unlucky landlord who rents to a meth maker and is left to deal with the extensive and costly cleanup. The number of meth labs seized by law enforcement agencies across the country is growing every year. Nationwide, in 2004, authorities discovered 16,326 meth labs. Alabama accounted for 379 of those cases. Labs can turn up in houses, apartments, motel rooms, sheds, trailers, and more recently, vehicles. Homes where the drug is manufactured become heavily contaminated with residue given off by the drug. The vapors produced during the cooking process are absorbed into everything from carpets, clothing, drapes, furniture, and even the ceilings, walls, and floors. In most cases the most noticeable residue left behind is in the form of yellowed stains on the walls which can actually be cleaned. It's the unseen residuals that truly pose the problem. Exposure to phosphine gas, one of the gasses created during cooking, can cause such ill health effects as severe respiratory problems and skin and eye irritations. Unfortunately for homeowners there is no place to turn for help. Alabama doesn't require homes to be cleaned where meth labs were present in order to be reoccupied and also doesn't have any suggested guidelines to help affected homeowners make their property habitable again. There also currently isn't any method for tracking or listing properties that have been used as meth labs. "It's a very big concern from a public safety and health standpoint,"said Mike Coppage, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety. "It's very costly to clean up." Depending upon how bad the contamination is, costs to clean up a home can run anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 and up for a private company. Local law enforcement bears the bulk of the responsibility for cleaning up any lab-related debris such as chemicals or containers. Houston County Sheriff's Department Operations Commander Don McMullan said upon discovering a meth lab investigators usually dismantle the lab and air the home out, but leave the removal of any hazardous chemicals to a firm hired by the state. "They put on the white suits,"McMullan said. "The reason we don't handle it is because during the moving process it agitates the chemicals again and starts up the contamination process again and the different gasses and fumes." Alabama contracts with Mobile-based Ferguson Harber. Costs to haul the material away to a safe disposal site generally range from $3,000 to $5,000 which is paid for by the federal government. But that's where the clean up requirements end. Homeowners are advised, however, to hire an environmental company trained to handle hazardous substances to come in and remove the remaining contamination. Only eight states have laws mandating clean up of meth labs. Those lack of standards worry some officials. "That's something I think we should look at in the next legislative session,"Coppage said. "Iwould like to see legislation passed that would pass the costs of cleaning up on to the offender." Missouri encountered a similar problem. The Show-me state leads the nation in the number of meth labs. The state reported 2,788 meth labs in 2004. Missouri has developed suggested guidelines on how to clean up former methamphetamine labs; one of only seven states to do so. Gale Carlson of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said that the state decided to develop some guidelines because the leftover problems inside the home seemed to be falling through the cracks. "Even when it was supposedly cleaned up no one really understood whether it was safe or how to clean it up,"Carlson said. "Once they got busted there was all that junk in the house and then once that stuff was taken out you still had the residuals in the walls or carpets." The guidelines though, are just that - suggestions on how to clean up a site. Carlson said the problem is that there aren't any nationally agreed upon guidelines as to what levels represent safe conditions because there haven't been any studies on the long-term effects of exposure to meth residue. "You can say clean it to one part per billion. But it could be a problem to half a part per billion,"Carlson said. "There still aren't any agreed upon health standards." Missouri recommends homes be aired out for three to five days, that all porous materials like furniture and carpets be removed, cleaning walls, counters, floors and replacing them if need be, replacing air filters, removing and cleaning vents, painting over surfaces where contamination was found, and having a professional come in to remove the plumbing as chemicals may have collected in drains and may give off toxic fumes. "We believe our guidelines, if followed, will protect people,"Carson said. "But we can't guarantee that." While Alabama may not have any clean up guidelines, the state is taking steps to reduce clean up costs. Alabama Bureau of Investigations Capt. Jerry Conner said the state is working on a pilot program that would allow local law enforcement to dispose of the less hazardous waste. "Some of the materials aren't really hazardous,"Conner said. "The over the counter stuff like lye is in a can. So they should be able to transport it to a central location where the clean up company can come one time and clean it up." The state plans on installing specially made 6 foot by 8 foot steel containers at each of the state's six state trooper barracks. "We felt they had the real estate at the trooper offices so we figured we would start there,"Conner said. That should lower the cost to haul the material away from $3,000 down to about $200. ABIplans to offer training courses to local law enforcement on clandestine lab certification and how to separate flammable material and bases and acids. "They will then come to the container, fill out the manifest and proper paperwork which will also encourage accuracy because meth labs are grossly under-reported in Alabama,"Conner said. "They will put the materials in the container so they won't have to wait around for the contractor." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin