Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2008
Source: Cuyahoga Falls News-Press (OH)
Copyright: 2008 Record Publishing Co, LLC
Contact:  http://www.fallsnewspress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4791
Author: Steve Wiandt
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

CITY COUNCIL SLATED TO VOTE ON NEW METH LAB ORDINANCE DEC. 8

Cuyahoga Falls -- The rules for reporting, remediating  and 
re-occupying clandestine drug labs in the city will  go before City 
Council for a vote on Dec. 8.

The legislation has been in the making since June.

"The clandestine drug lab ordinance is the only one of  its kind in 
the state," Hope Jones, the city's deputy  law director, told the 
Falls News-Press. "I am proud  that the administration and City 
Council took the lead  on this issue."

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to reduce  public exposure 
to health risks where law enforcement  officers have determined that 
hazardous chemicals from  a suspected clandestine drug lab site or 
associated  dump site may exist.

The proposed ordinance defines a clandestine drug lab  site as any 
land, dwelling or structure where  controlled substances are 
illegally manufactured, as  determined by law enforcement officials. 
The new ordinance would require law enforcement authorities 
to  notify a city building official once they declare a  property a 
public health nuisance due to its  designation as a clandestine drug 
lab site or chemical  dump site.

The building official must then notify the owner,  occupants, 
neighbors, police, and government  authorities. The proposed 
ordinance gives the owner 90  days to complete remediation and 
post-remediation assessment, and it requires disclosure to buyers 
and  occupants of a property that it once was declared a  public 
health nuisance or was the site of a clandestine  drug lab.

The revised legislation, which Jones presented to  Council Dec. 1, 
states "all adjacent property owners  and any other neighbors at 
probable risk," "the primary  mortgage holder" and "City Council 
members" are among  those to notify when a clandestine drug lab, or 
meth  lab, is discovered and declared a public nuisance.

If the state or federal government passes cleanup  guidelines that 
are more stringent than the city's or  that pre-empt local 
regulation, its cleanup guidelines  shall prevail, she said.

Jones also added a requirement that the chief building  official 
notify the Summit County Sheriff and the  Summit County Department of 
Health that the property  has been cleared for re-occupancy. She put 
in the  criteria that the remediation firm performing  preliminary 
and post-remediation assessments be a  different firm than the one 
that performs the  remediation.

Jones thanked Council members for their input, noting  she believes 
the ordinance is better now than when it  was first written. Many of 
the changes were based on  Council's input.

After the meeting, Jones said the owner will not pay  any public 
costs such as those connected with the  detection of a meth lab and 
cleanup of chemicals by the  police department. The only cost the 
owner will have to  pay is that to remediate the property for 
reoccupation,  she said, adding that if the city has to do 
the  remediation, the city will assess the property for the  actual cost.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom