METH FEARS A BUST

No Boom In Labs In City, But Cops Now Deal With Toxic Soup Dumped At
Rural Sites

The crystal methamphetamine crisis that cops feared would overtake the
city never fully materialized, says a city cop.

"Meth hasn't grown to the state we were scared it might," said Staff
Sgt. Darcy Strang of the Edmonton Police Service drug section.

Strang credited education and awareness programs for a decline in meth
use - and production - in the city.

"The meth labs that were in Edmonton aren't in Edmonton any more," he
said.

A few years ago, there were several busts in the city, including a
discovery in 2002 of a meth lab in the west end that was capable of
pumping out nearly $1 million in drugs per day.

These days, the EPS mostly gets reports of small "mom and pop" labs,
said Strang.

"The chance of getting caught is much greater inside the city," he
explained, adding that dumpsites, where the toxic refuse of meth labs
are abandoned, are extremely rare within city limits.

Because of this, meth labs - and the waste they produce - usually turn
up in rural areas.

"It's important to realize that for every unit of the drug made, five
to seven units of toxic waste are also produced," said Cpl. Rick
Goldstein of the RCMP 'K' division chemical diversion program.

"This byproduct is then dumped directly on the land in rural settings.
From there, toxins can leach into the ground and contaminate water
supplies," he said.

Meth labs utilize "a myriad of different chemicals," said Goldstein,
including solvents and corrosive acids.

"They pose a huge health risk," he said. "They can be potentially
fatal."

Because of the toxicity of these chemicals, the soil at dump sites has
to be remediated - something that can be very expensive, depending on
the extent of the contamination.

"It's similar to the soil remediation process at an old gas station
where the tanks are removed in addition to all of the surrounding soil
until normal pH levels are obtained," said Goldstein.

"Replacement soil is then trucked in and can cost tens of thousands of
dollars for the entire process," he said.

"Unlike other Canadian jurisdictions, Alberta Environment does have an
emergency fund in place to assist land owners with the burden of these
costs," said Sgt. Ian Sanderson with 'K' division's drug awareness
service.

"However, taxpayers subsequently become unwitting victims to these
clandestine lab operations."

In response to recommendations made by the province's meth task force
- - developed by former premier Ralph Klein in 2005 - the RCMP, Alberta
Agriculture and Rural Crime Watch have teamed up to produce an
information brochure on how to spot and report a dump site.

"We now have a thousand more eyes to assist the RCMP in the
identification and reporting of crystal methamphetamine sites," said
Bernie Yakimyshyn of the Farmers' Advocate Office with Alberta
Agriculture.

"The bottom line is that our rural areas are safer," he said.