COUNTY MAY TRACK METH LABS

Task Force Recommends Creating Web Site To Identify Houses And Cleanup
Efforts

Summit County should create a Web site identifying all properties that
have been tainted by methamphetamines, a county task force recommends.

The site would provide a much-needed resource for home buyers and
renters when they are deciding where to live, members said.

The Summit County Methamphetamine Property Awareness Task Force - a
mix of health agencies, county leaders and law enforcement - wrapped
up several months of discussions last week about how to better inform
residents about properties damaged by meth.

The group concluded that all law-enforcement agencies should notify
the sheriff's office about meth-tainted properties and the county
should develop a dedicated, public Web site identifying the known
sites. The Web site would provide public access to all documents
concerning the property, including any citing cleanup efforts.

The task force also urged federal and state officials to establish
cleanup guidelines.

The recommendations now go to County Council for approval. Councilman
Jon Poda, who led the task force, said he will ask council to give its
approval at its Aug. 4 meeting.

The task force was created this year after news stories about a woman
who bought a home in Stow, unaware that the property had been used as
a meth lab. She sued the seller.

Since then, Stow and Green have enacted laws making it a crime not to
disclose a property's meth history. Cuyahoga Falls also is debating
legislation.

Not everyone will disclose the history and that's why the Web site
would be a valuable tool, Poda said.

''We are trying to be proactive,'' he said.

The county also should develop a marketing campaign to make people
aware of the Web site, he said.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration maintains a similar Web site
called the National Clandestine Laboratory Registry
(http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/seizures/ohio.html). The site, which was
last updated in September 2007, lists 137 properties in Summit County.

David Suveges of Cuyahoga Falls, a landlord and vice president of the
Akron/Canton Real Estate Investors Association, said he's pleased the
county is trying to improve awareness. He has monitored the task
force's meetings.

''It's a start,'' Suveges said. ''But I don't know that the county can
find all the answers.''

Meth is a drug made by cooking ingredients, including over-the-counter
medications. The process creates dangerous chemical residues that can
seep into walls and carpeting.

Exposure to those chemicals can cause headaches, chest pain, nausea
and dizziness and other problems, depending on the length and type of
the exposure, according to health experts.

The Summit County Drug Unit has shut down more than 30 meth labs so
far this year, said Hylton Baker, head of the group.

''We still continue to find labs and receive calls about labs on
almost a daily basis,'' he said.