CHEMICAL LEFTOVERS POST HUMAN RISKS - DAY 4A

Records show that poor coordination and lack of regulation have
permitted people to live in contaminated Inland properties.

For years, state and local officials have known that the dangers from
drug labs don't end when the methamphetamine cooks are arrested and
their ingredients hauled away for destruction.

Left behind in Riverside kitchens, Moreno Valley hotel rooms, Fontana
apartments and San Bernardino sheds are dangerous chemicals that can
hurt the unsuspecting people who move in months later.

Toxic vapors from the poisonous chemicals used to make the drug seep
into pores of walls, ceilings and floors, where they are touched or
inhaled by unsuspecting occupants and their children for years after
the labs are gone.

Despite the potential hazards, records show that poor coordination,
lax oversight and a scarcity of state laws have allowed scores of
people to move into former drug labs across the Inland region that may
not have been properly cleaned up.

Oregon and Washington, which have less serious drug-lab problems, have
enacted stringent laws that require extensive cleanup of drug labs.
California has virtually no laws. Oversight is instead left to the

counties, where county officials say the few regulatory tools at their
disposal lack the necessary teeth to compel property owners to perform
the expensive and time-consuming cleanups.

For years, state and local officials have known that the dangers from
drug labs don't end when the methamphetamine cooks are arrested and
their ingredients hauled away for destruction.

Left behind in Riverside kitchens, Moreno Valley hotel rooms, Fontana
apartments and San Bernardino sheds are dangerous chemicals that can
hurt the unsuspecting people who move in months later.

Toxic vapors from the poisonous chemicals used to make the drug seep
into pores of walls, ceilings and floors, where they are touched or
inhaled by unsuspecting occupants and their children for years after
the labs are gone.

Despite the potential hazards, records show that poor coordination,
lax oversight and a scarcity of state laws have allowed scores of
people to move into former drug labs across the Inland region that may
not have been properly cleaned up.

Oregon and Washington, which have less serious drug-lab problems, have
enacted stringent laws that require extensive cleanup of drug labs.
California has virtually no laws. Oversight is instead left to the
counties, where county officials say the few regulatory tools at their
disposal lack the necessary teeth to compel property owners to perform
the expensive and time-consuming cleanups.

In some cases, drug agents in the Inland region don't call public
health specialists to check out the dangers left behind. In others,
health experts decide not to see for themselves if a home is a health
hazard, depending instead on what they are told over the phone by drug
agents on the scene.

Even when public health officials do go out, they rely on testing
methods capable of pinpointing only some of the contamination.

Most of the time, officials in Riverside and San Bernardino counties
simply send a form letter out to homeowners telling them to clean up
the property. After that, records show, there is little follow-up.

The letters are routinely mailed out months after the drug lab
has been shut down. Sometimes they are addressed to the people
chargedwith making the drug, suspects unlikely to be concerned about
cleaning up the mess they've left behind.

Of about 280 cases in the last two years reviewed by The
Press-Enterprise, county public health files show that officials in
the two counties made personal visits and conducted visual inspections
at just eight homes.

In the remaining cases, no follow-up was conducted to ensure the
contaminants were removed.

That means hundreds of property owners each year may be ignoring
county directives to hire special companies to inspect the homes to
ensure no dangerous chemicals are left behind.

"We're not protecting the public health," said Frances Passarelli, who
heads HAZPAK Inc. in Fontana, a hazardous waste company certified to
clean up drug labs in the Inland area. "Most of the time, the property
owner paints over the wall and cleans the carpet, and the next
unsuspecting individual moves in."

Inland county health experts are stymied by the large number of drug
labs and a lack of efficient tools to punish negligent property
owners, said Vince Sternjacob, a supervisor in Riverside County's
Hazardous Materials Division who has helped clean up hundreds of labs.

"We know that happens, absolutely," Sternjacob said of the slipshod
soap-and-water cleanup methods. "We're very concerned about that.

"If it's going to be $3,000 to $5,000 to clean up and if the property
owners think that they can just paint over this stuff and get away
with it, then they're going to do it."

Studies have shown that those steps are not enough to ensure that
chemical dangers are eliminated.

Health officials in both counties say their ability to do their jobs
has been hampered by several problems: law enforcement agencies that
don't give them a call; vague laws that give them little power; and a
lack of money.

Couple worries about bumps

That's a concern for Manuel Trevino and Diana Doty, who said they
moved into a house on a dusty two-and-a-half-acre Glen Avon lot in the
fall of 1998 without being told that the place had been used to make
methamphetamine.

On June 30, 1998, state and county agents made a bust at the home. In
his report, the county health expert called to the scene said he put
on the second-highest level of protection, which usually includes a
heavy moon suit and 30-minute air tank.

The specialist found all the normal ingredients to make speed -- red
phosphorus, iodine, ephedrine and flammable liquids. In the house, he
discovered red-phosphorus stains and high levels of acid in the
kitchen and living room. A shed behind the home was severely tainted
with similar chemicals.

While walking around the property, he saw that the drug cookers had
dumped chemicals behind the house and in one corner of the fenced yard.

The chemicals were hauled away by the drug team. The contaminated
home, shed and yard were left for the property owner to clean up.

About two weeks after the bust, the state attorney general's office
mailed a form letter to the property owner telling her about the raid
and that "there may still be significant chemical contamination at the
property."

In late September, nearly three months after the raid, the county sent
its own form letter.

What the property owner -- who died last year did to clean up
the home is unclear. Abraham Ali, the property manager who rents the
house to Trevino and Doty, said the state and county offered little
help or direction.

"They didn't really give us a lot of detail about what was in there
and what needs to be done," he said.

Trevino and Doty weren't too concerned about the drug lab when they
heard about it from neighbors after they moved in. The 62-year-old
retired boiler mechanic and 38-year-old waitress assumed they wouldn't
have been allowed to move in if there was still a problem.

Doty spent her time digging in the yard, putting in cacti, yucca,
marigolds and other plants that soon died. Ever since she moved in,
Doty said, she has felt unusually tired, often had an upset stomach
and been sick more often than ever in her life.

Then, in the fall of 1999, the two woke up with strange red bumps and
penny-sized rashes scattered across their bodies. Trevino went to a
doctor, who thought they might be insect bites. So the couple hired an
exterminator.

The couple also stopped tilling the dirt in the yard. The rashes,
however, come and go, and Doty's body now bears the scars from the
bumps.

A few weeks later, they learned about the extensive contamination from
the drug lab when a Press-Enterprise reporter showed them a copy of
the county environmental report.

The report left them wondering if their health problems might be
caused by chemicals left behind after the drug raid.

While their doctor did not directly link the rashes to contaminants in
their home, meth chemicals are known to cause skin irritations and
hives.

"You would think that they would have followed up on this," Trevino
said. "It's jeopardizing everybody that lives on the property."

A serious health threat

What dangers remain behind in former drug labs for unsuspecting
individuals like Trevino and Doty are unclear. Experts know that the
chemicals used to make methamphetamine -- acids, iodine, phosphorus --
can be dangers to people "cooking" the drug.

They know red phosphorus is highly flammable, iodine is toxic,
ephedrine can raise blood pressure and acids can burn. Many of the
chemicals can irritate the skin.

But how long the dangers linger after a drug lab has been shut down --
and whether they could have caused health problems for Trevino and
Doty -- is unclear.

No one has taken an in-depth look at what harm the chemicals can do to
people who move into a home previously used as a drug lab, say health
experts on the West Coast.

But California has raised some warning flags.

In 1993, the state warned that contamination in former drug labs could
pose "a serious health threat. . . . (and) may cause chronic health
problems in unsuspecting future occupants."

The study by the state Environmental Protection Agency and Department
of Toxic Substances Control found what it called a coordination gap
between law enforcement and public-health officers that created "a
fragmented and inefficient" cleanup strategy.

Public-health officials expressed frustrations in the study.
Seven years later, local health experts say little has changed.

"How long do you go on beating your head against a wall telling people
that there are homes out there that have not been cleaned up and
people are already at risk?" Sternjacob asked.

By law, drug agents are supposed to let local health officials know
within 24 hours anytime they close down a hazardous lab or dump.

If the problem is merely a few ephedrine tablets or a can or two of
camping fuel, agents don't have to call out county health officials.

Ideally, Sternjacob said, he'd like his staff to be notified of all
but the most benign labs within hours of their discovery.

Although drug agents are trained to size up the health hazards, that's
not their main mission, Sternjacob said. The officers, he said, are
focused on "catching the bad guy," not making sure the home is cleaned
up. That's why he wants his people on the scene.

Sternjacob and Brian Otter, an environmental specialist in the
San Bernardino County Hazardous Materials Division, said they have
beenfrustrated by law-enforcement agencies that fail to call them
out to drug labs and instead send them vague letters long after the
officers have left the scene.

Coordination gap hurts cleanup

According to records and interviews, some law-enforcement agencies in
Riverside and San Bernardino counties often wait weeks before they
send off a one-paragraph form letter to health officials, telling them
only that they have closed down a drug lab at a particular address.

Most of the late notices are being sent by Riverside County's
drug team: ARCNET, a coalition of seven agencies including the state
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Riverside County Sheriff's Department
and Hemet Police Department.

In about one-third of the 112 Riverside County files reviewed by The
Press-Enterprise, the health department received letters from the
Allied Riverside Cities Narcotic Enforcement Team days, and sometimes
weeks, after the drug team had shut down a methamphetamine lab.

ARCNET members at a meth lab bust should call health officials, who
then could determine whether to go directly to the site, Sternjacob
said. Being present at drug labs immediately after raids provides
public health officials with critical details. Facts such as where in
a home the drug lab was found and how long the suspects had been
cooking are crucial to helping hazardous-materials personnel assess
the dangers, he said.

Experts evaluate the cleanliness of a lab, discoloration of
walls,floors and ceilings and chemical residue in bathroom and kitchen
plumbing in determining the level of cleanup required.

Tony Ybarra, head of ARCNET, said the task force calls out
public-health officials in the worst cases -- those where the chemicals
are in danger of exploding or where the hazard from toxic or corrosive
materials is great.

"We call them; many times they don't come out," he said. "Many times,
if we've got a (illegal drug lab) dump or something out in Aguanga or
Anza, they're just not coming. That's the reality of it."

Sternjacob and Otter said time and money prevent them from
sending staff out to every drug lab and dump. Sometimes the lab will
amount to nothing more than a box of chemicals in a closet or the
trunk of a car.

In those cases, they said, there's no need to take what could be hours
of overtime to check out something officers on the scene have said
isn't a problem.

After being asked by The Press-Enterprise about the lack of
coordination between the county and ARCNET, Sternjacob met with Ybarra
in November to talk about the problems and said the two agreed to
"bring down some of the barriers."

In an interview, Ybarra conceded that ARCNET letters were going out
too late and said he would check on the problem.

Because people such as Otter and Sternjacob also complained to
thestate about poor coordination, the California Legislature got
involved in 1998.

On almost every drug lab, counties ask the state for money to clean up
the mess. Drug agents call from the crime scene and get the OK to hire
a contractor to haul away the chemicals.

Except in cases of massive contamination, however, county public
health officials are not called, Sternjacob said, creating a gap in
the agency's ability to ensure that dwellings are properly cleaned up
before unsuspecting renters or new owners move into the house.

Under the new law, county hazardous materials units can sign up to be
notified by the state whenever local drug agents request money. So
far, however, only five counties -- including San Bernardino, but not
Riverside -- have asked the state to give them a ring.

"Rip and remove"

Even when they do go out to drug labs, specialists in both counties
rely on a process that has had limited success in pinpointing problems.

A 1993 state study found that chemicals used to make speed can easily
seep into walls and floors, where they escape detection.

Of even more concern, the report found that basic soap-and-water
cleaning did more to draw the dangerous chemicals out from the walls
than it did to wash them away.

The best way to make a home safe again was to take out anything the
drugs could seep into, such as walls, countertops and all kinds of
wood and carpet, the study authors said.

That's the approach adopted by San Diego County.

Because it can often cost thousands of dollars to clean up a drug lab,
and because the cleaning process can miss deep-rooted chemicals, San
Diego County encourages property owners to tear out and remove
severely contaminated walls, floors and carpets. The property owners
must pay for the cleanup.

Mike Handman helped put together the state report. With 20 years'
experience cleaning up drug labs, Handman supervises San Diego
County's hazardous materials unit in the Department of Environmental
Health.

From his perspective, the only way to make sure that a home used to
cook methamphetamine is free from hazards is to "rip and remove": Take
out anything where there are signs of contamination.

Because there are no studies on the possible problems faced by people
who move into homes that haven't been completely cleaned, the best
approach is to be cautious, Handman said.

"You've got to be as conservative as possible to be safe," he
said.

The rip-and-remove approach is suggested to most owners for
contaminated walls, ceiling panels and carpeting, Handman said.

"Especially if it's a rental . . . You don't want 3-year-old kids
crawling all over it," he said.

In San Diego County, records of cleanup recommendations can serve as
ammunition against negligent landlords if tenants later become sick or
injured and file suit, Handman said.

Riverside and San Bernardino counties have different approaches
to cleanup.

In many cases, records show, both counties do little more than send a
letter to the property owner -- who is sometimes the person sitting in
jail charged with making the drug.

When a home shows signs of widespread contamination, San Bernardino
County health officials sometimes add information to the property's
title about the hazards. Although that
doesn't prevent the owner from selling the property, it can make it
more difficult. (Riverside County has tried to "flag" former meth lab
sites on their property titles but has not come up with an efficient
method of doing it, Sternjacob said.)

In the past year, San Bernardino County's social services agency also
has been asking the Hazardous Materials Division to make sure homes
are cleaned before they agree to let children who had lived there return.

But San Bernardino County rarely relies on those tools. Last year, the
county used either option fewer than 20 times, Otter said.

County environmental specialists are more likely to work with owners
and make sure that they have properly cleaned up their properties.

In the first six months of 1999, records show, San Bernardino County
hazardous-materials staff certified that eight homes out of about 175
cases were properly cleaned up.

Riverside County essentially leaves the responsibility to the property
owner.

Sternjacob said his department is willing to meet with property owners
and help them figure out what they need to do to clean up the home and
land. But the form letter property owners receive never mentions that.

Instead, the letter tells them that the place must be cleaned up by a
certified hazardous-waste company and that the county can give them a
list of such contractors.

Riverside County officials say the letters are intended only to notify
property owners that a lab was found. The letters give property owners
a telephone number to call for details about their case and for
references to contractors capable of handling the cleanup, Sternjacob
said.

But beyond that, records show, the county does almost
nothing.

Out of 112 case files in Riverside County during the last two years
reviewed by The Press-Enterprise, there was no evidence that any of
the homes had been properly cleaned up or that county officials
checked on the property after sending out the letters.

In some cases, Riverside County sent bills to the property owners for
the costs of the hazardous-materials team response. But, Sternjacob
said, the law has no teeth to force a property owner to pay.

That property owners don't reimburse the county or hire their own
cleanup specialists is no surprise.

Hiring a hazardous-waste company to do the work can cost thousands of
dollars. In comparison, slapping on a coat of paint and steam-cleaning
the rugs can cost a couple of hundred dollars.

Local environmental experts say their jobs would be aided by stronger
state laws that give them more power to make sure drug labs are
properly cleaned up.

Statewide regulations would create a consistent process with
scientifically set standards for acceptable chemical levels.
Currently, for instance, counties decide for themselves how much
residual iodine is too much.

Many counties lack the resources and expertise to perform the
necessary research, environmental health officials say.

"We need state law," Handman said. "It needs to be done at the state
level, but it's never come to pass."

Karl Palmer, head of the emergency response unit in the
CaliforniaDepartment of Toxic Substances Control, said the state is
making sure the most serious dangers are removed by paying counties
to haul away the chemicals and cooking equipment.

"I think we're doing a good job," said Palmer. "We're doing the best
we can. We don't know what the chronic threats are. What we do know is
that if we don't do the gross removal, that there is no question about
the threats."

Palmer said he is working with experts from around the state to try to
develop guidelines to make sure that all counties have some direction.

"There are no standards for what is clean, and it has kind of fallen
through the cracks," said Mark Miller, co-chairman of the
Environmental Health Committee for the Northern California Chapter of
the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"We should be doing more to protect future inhabitants, neighbors and
communities," he said.