OAK HARBOR CAR LOT CONTAMINATED BY METH MAKES HISTORY

A North Whidbey used car lot earned the unfortunate distinction of
becoming the first dealership to have its license yanked by the state
due to methamphetamine contamination.

The state Department of Licensing issued a summary suspension of O&J
Sales' license last week. The notice of summary suspension states that
meth contamination of vehicles, as well as the business' failure to
transfer titles in a timely manner, as the reasons for the action.
Brad Benfield, spokesman for the department, said it was the first
time meth contamination has been cited in a suspension.

But the owner of O&J Sales is frustrated by what he feels is an
overzealous health department, unclear state rules about meth
contamination and the unequal application of those rules.

"If the standards were applied to every car dealership in the state,
most of them would go out of business," said Oak Harbor resident Mark
Brown, a retired elementary school teacher and owner of the car lot.

The standard that the Island County Health Department used is so low,
Brown said, that a meth smoker could contaminate a car by simply going
on a test drive. On the other side, health officials are just starting
to realize the mounting problems with meth use - specifically the
smoking of the crystalline drug - tainting homes and cars, possibly
putting unsuspecting people at a health risk.

Brown said he had 22 cars, valued at nearly $70,000, hauled away and
crushed last week because they were contaminated with meth. He said it
wasn't worth the high cost of cleaning the used cars, which involves a
certified specialist, especially since they will be hard to sell with
a contamination history.

Brown is especially outraged that one of the contaminated cars came
from a State Patrol auction, which means the law enforcement agency
sold a contaminated vehicle. The car had been seized by the State
Patrol after drugs were found inside, according to Brown.

For O&J, the problems began in March when the Island County Sheriff's
Office raided the Goldie Road lot and found 94 grams of meth, which
detectives said was worth about $9,000. Deputies arrested the manager,
Brown's son Nolan, for meth possession. Nolan had a history of drug
problems; his father said he bought the business to give his son a
profitable job.

After the drug bust, employees from the Island County Health
Department tested the building and three cars for meth. Officials
didn't suspect that meth was being manufactured, but they were
concerned smoke from meth use could have caused contamination. Marie
Piper, an environmental health specialist, was shocked when all the
swabs came back positive for meth; the building was tested at 5,200
times the state standard.

But the standard is part of the problem, in Brown's view. The state
set the meth decontamination level at 0.1 micrograms per 100
centimeters squared. The level is not based on health concerns, but
it's merely the lowest level that can be detected with current tests.
Companies certified to clean meth contamination must get below that
number.

This spring, the state of California set the level of meth
contamination at 1.5 micrograms per 100 centimeters squared, which is
15 times the Washington standard. California's number was based on
scientific studies of the effect of meth contamination.

If the California standard was used, Brown said only five of the cars
would have been considered positive for meth contamination.

Piper said she would probably support using the California standard in
Washington in the future, but she has to follow the current law. Even
so, she said having five cars contaminated to the level of proven
health danger is a serious problem and necessitated the shut down.

"A factor of 15 isn't a great deal when dealing with health issues,"
Piper said. "I don't think the Washington state standard was overly
burdensome."

A total of 61 vehicles on the lot were tested and 29 came back as
"hot" or contaminated.

In response to the Department of Licensing investigation, Brown
pointed out that 10 vehicle titles were late in being transfered
because the Sheriff's Office seized them when the search warrant was
served.

He eventually got them back and transfered them all over. The
Department of Licensing investigation notes that the criminal
investigation caused the delay, but it was still cited as a reason for
the license suspension.

It's been an expensive problem for both the dealership and the county.
Piper said the health department ended up paying for most of the
testing after a high-tech device proved to be inaccurate and Brown
kept delaying the testing. The county's funds for testing come from a
grant. Brown said he paid to have 19 cars tested at a cost of $12,000.

Brown said he'll probably pay to have five of the cars cleaned, which
costs about $2,500 each. He said he spent $12,000 to have the office
cleaned.

Brown feels that he is being unfairly singled out by the Health
Department. He postulated that all used car dealerships in the state,
and maybe some new car lots, have vehicles for sale that are
contaminated by meth, based on the state standard.

Piper isn't so sure that's true, though she said there's probably a
lot of contaminated cars circulating. She said the O&J manager took a
risk in buying cars with questionable backgrounds, such as the car
seized by law enforcement. What's more important to remember, Piper
said, is that Nolan Brown brought scrutiny on to the car lot by
allegedly possessing meth. Under law, she said health officials have
to order testing when there's a reason to suspect contamination.

On the other hand, Piper said she agrees that the State Patrol
shouldn't sell a car without testing when there's a reason to suspect
contamination. And if a car is seized because of drug-related
activity, that's a really good reason.

"That's something I'm going to look into once I get some time," she
said.

Piper said the issue of meth contamination is keeping her very busy.
She's dealt with 12 contaminated properties so far this year. In the
two previous years, there were only a total of 10 cases.

Two businesses next to the car lot have been closed for weeks due to
meth contamination, which came through a ventilation system from a
unit used by O&J employees. Piper said they have been cleaned and
should open "in the next week or two."

As for O&J Sales, Brown said he's not sure if the business will
survive. He said he's reluctantly gone along with the Health
Department's demands, but he's not ruling out the possibility of a
lawsuit down the road. He suspects that the testing wasn't done
according to protocol, though health official say everything was done
correctly.

"This is not the way the United States of America is supposed to
work," he said. "I'm just blown away."