METHAMPHETAMINE PRODUCTION ALSO AN ENVIRONMENTAL NIGHTMARE

It is estimated that for every pound of methamphetamine produced, an
illegal lab will create five pounds of toxic waste. The waste appears as a
red liquid sludge with a strong ammonia-like odor, like cat urine. There is
no legal way producers can dispose of this toxic mess.

For small time producers a small quantity of waste is all to easy to
dispose of simply by flushing it down a toilet or dumping it in a hole in
the back yard. Larger producers might require larger pits in their back
yards, but the disposal procedure is little different.

The improper disposal of toxic waste can be an environmental nightmare and
impact soil, ground water, and, if poured down the drain, rivers. The
effects on the environment can be hard to measure partly because the number
of labs operating at any one time is not known and only a small number are
ever found and properly disposed of.

Structures too can be affected by the production of methamphetamine and,
depending on the size of the lab and length of time it has been operating,
could require more than simply the removal of carpets or the scrubbing of
walls. Acid soaked walls, ceilings, and floors could require the complete
gutting of a structure or even its demolition, said Hill County Sanitarian,
Clay Vincent.

"Fumes can enter into the walls or rugs," Vincent said. "And if those
chemicals stay in there, somebody else who stays in that area can also be
taking in that stuff ..."

One of Vincent's jobs is to deal with chemical contamination in Hill
County. It falls on him to determine to what degree a structure or piece of
property has been affected.

"You want to make sure that it's not going to be dangerous to the next
group of people that are in there," he said. "Do we need to gut the
structure or get rid of the structure?"

Vincent has yet to make such a determination in the Havre area and believes
that to do so adequately would require help from other state agencies and
air monitoring equipment capable of detecting these specific chemicals.

Even if the structure is found to be contaminated, it is unclear what this
might mean to the property owner.

This can be particularly disturbing to landlords who have rented to people
that are using their property to manufacture drugs.

Vincent notes that the cleanup of private property in Montana is generally
the responsibility of the property owner and the discovery of a hazardous
waste site on private property might, by law, cause a notation to appear on
the owner's title. This notation could limit the owners ability to sell the
property and drastically lower property values.