METH-LAB WASTE SPREADS ITS POISON

In January, a crystal-meth lab in Surrey exploded, forcing the evacuation
of 20 nearby residents. In June last year, two garbage disposal operators
in Delta became violently ill when their truck crushed containers of
discarded chemicals believed to be from a meth lab.

In 2003, a 20-tonne compactor in Vancouver was lifted a half-metre off the
ground by an explosion believed to have been caused by compacting cans of
discarded ether, an ingredient of crystal meth.

And in 2002, a Burnaby woman had a lucky escape when methane gas exploded
in a Kitsilano sewer line. The force of the blast sent a manhole cover
through her car windshield. Drug-lab chemicals dumped into sewers were
believed to be responsible.

Costs linked to the cleanup and disposal of chemical waste produced during
the manufacture of crystal meth are soaring.

For every kilogram of meth, the "cooks" leave behind six to eight kilograms
of waste chemicals, says Vancouver's environmental protection branch
manager Doug Roberts.

The poisonous sludge is often stored haphazardly, posing a serious threat
not only to people making the drug, but to those living next door.

"The atmosphere in those buildings can be poisonous, corrosive, explosive.
Would you want to be living next to that?"Roberts says.

The porridge of waste chemicals includes acetone, dustings of highly
flammable red phosphorous, lye, muriatic acid and anhydrous ammonia.

The toxic brew is dumped down drains, emptied into sewers or abandoned in
ditches, fields and back gardens. A blob of tar-like substances in the
sewers in Port Coquitlam led police to a meth lab in late March where they
found 11 kgs of ecstasy.

Sgt. Mike Harding, the RCMP officer in charge of the Mounties' clandestine
lab team, says these substances contaminate groundwater, soil, damage the
sewer systems themselves and poison fish habitats.

They also pose a hazard to fire crews and other municipal workers for whom
special, costly training is required.

"The biggest danger for us is just soaking up this stuff," says Archie
Roberts (no relation to Doug), a training officer with the Vancouver fire
department. Anhydrous ammonia, if inhaled, sucks moisture out of a victim's
lungs, giving him "instant freezer burn," he says.

Vancouver fire crews, who have been summoned to the scene of six drug labs
in the past two years, have to be taught what to expect.

Make a mistake and the "front of the house blows off," Roberts says. "

The financial impact of environmental cleanups is also substantial. The
cost of of disposing of ingredients is between $5,000 and $7,000 per lab,
Harding says, not including labour or materials.

A City of Vancouver report put the average cleanup cost at between $18,000
and $33,000. And the number of labs discovered and dismantled is
increasing. Municipalities pay for clean-ups and bill Ottawa. But Health
Canada refunds the money only when there's a police report and charges are
laid.

Plus, says Doug Roberts, Ottawa does not pay the wages for first responders
or subsequent legal expenses.