METH LABS: TOXIC DENS

Meth Lab Operators Aren't Exactly Model Citizens.

Many steal to feed their habits and their labs. Their very existence breaks
the law.

So it should come as no surprise that they flout environmental laws by
dumping what are known as "death bags" wherever they see fit. The bags,
filled with deadly toxins - the byproducts of manufacturing methamphetamine
- - have become a threat to public safety.

Meth labs have become a scourge in some of Denver's inner-ring suburbs,
including in Adams County, and one official notes there are 10 to 20
operating for every one they bust.

As the number of meth labs mushrooms, death bags have been popping up with
more frequency. In public garbage bins. In parks. Along roadsides. In
apartment Dumpsters.

Law enforcement should consider the environmental impacts of meth labs when
prosecuting the operators. It's not enough to throw these drug dealers in
prison. If the suspects have financial means, they should be prosecuted in
civil court as well.

Someone needs to pay for the environmental cleanup of meth labs and the
dangerous side effects of dumping hazardous waste. It might as well be the
meth lab operators.

Unfortunately, most are just scraping by, and even if they do own their own
home, the fumes that emit from meth manufacturing often render it a complete
loss.

However, a civil suit should be considered another arrow in the government's
quiver.

Under the Colorado Hazardous Waste Act, meth lab operators can be fined up
to $25,000 for dumping hazardous waste if the state health department refers
the case to the attorney general's office and it's pursued in civil court.

They can be fined up to $15,000 if the matter is handled administratively by
the health department.

Prosecutors also should consider tacking on a reckless endangerment charge
whenever they find proof of the illegal dumping of these so-called death
bags.

An unwitting person scouring a Dumpster for pop cans, or someone who finds a
bag on a roadside, could become seriously ill, possibly even die, just from
breathing these toxic fumes.

Three months ago, a Colorado Department of Transportation worker was
overcome by fumes from a death bag as he cleaned out a rest-stop trash can
near Larkspur. He was sick for a month.

"He was very ill. It burned his lungs," Stacey Stegman, CDOT spokeswoman,
told The Post.

A reckless endangerment charge could add up to six months on a prison
sentence and up to $750 in fines.

Going after meth lab operators in civil court won't end the problems these
drug dens are creating across the metro area.

But it certainly could help defray the cost of cleaning up their messes.