UNSUSPECTING OWNERS OF METH HOUSES CAN FACE BIG CLEANUP BILLS

PORTLAND, Ore. - A small methamphetamine lab can be set up in a home in a
day with a few thousand dollars of over-the-counter chemicals and
glassware, but the effects of the contamination in the house can be felt
for years afterward.

Oregon Health Division officials forced Kraig Mead to shut down the day
care in his Milwaukie home in October when he could not come up with $3,000
to test for lingering contamination from a meth lab. The lab was operated
out of his home three years before he bought it.

"We can't schedule (testing) until we have the money, and unfortunately,
with the loss of income, that may be some time out," said Mead, who
continues to live with his wife and three children in a house the state
deems "unfit for use."

Because the number of meth labs discovered in Oregon is rising each year,
more homeowners could face the revelation that their homes were once drug
factories that were never cleaned up.

The state Health Division expects to identify more than 200 home labs this
year, said Ron Hall, field services manager. About 60 percent of the home
labs discovered last year were cleaned up under state guidelines, he said.

Exposure to chemicals such as lead acetate and mercuric acid used to make
the white, crystalline substance, which is injected or snorted, has not
been well-documented.

Many people suffer dizziness, headaches and coldlike symptoms after living
in a meth environment. And health officials think long-term effects could
include kidney and liver damage and learning disabilities in children.

The Health Division follows strict guidelines after police shut down a lab,
said Tom Mitchell, head of the department's drug lab cleanup program.

Signs are posted labeling the house unfit for use, and the Health Division
sends out information to homeowners advising them of the testing and
cleanup procedure.

Then it's up to the homeowners.

Cleanup can involve replacing carpets and furniture and using industrial
detergents to scrub walls and floors. Some homeowners, overwhelmed by the
testing and cleanup costs that can run into the tens of thousands of
dollars, put off the cleanups.

As for enforcement, the Health Division has few staff members and little
money to ensure that home labs are cleaned up.

It relies largely on property owners not to occupy or sell a contaminated
home, which are illegal to live in unless cleaned up under state
guidelines. Overlapping jurisdictions, however, make it unclear who's
responsible for enforcing the law.

Health Division officials skirt around the fact that Mead and his family
remain illegally in the home. They say the $20,000 he spent remodeling the
home has created "extenuating circumstances" but insist he must follow
official cleanup procedures like everyone else.

"There's no time line (for cleanup)," Hall said. "Some elect to let the
property sit. It's their property, so that's their option. . . . We have
some files where we don't know what the status of the property is, and once
in awhile we take files and send out staff to see what's going on."

Oregonians who unknowingly buy former meth labs do have several options.

They could sue the seller, because Oregon law requires disclosure in real
estate transactions if there was a drug lab that was not properly cleaned
on the property.

Some homeowners also have insurance that could help cover the cleanup
costs. But many insurance companies argue that drug lab cleanups fall under
the pollution and contamination exclusion in their policies and take steps
to limit their liability.