CONTAMINATED BY METH: FAMILY CAN'T LIVE IN HOME

Ann Heward can only drive by her family home on Marion Street in
Albany. She can't walk on the grass, prune a bush, retrieve a car in
the driveway or move any of her possessions out of the house.

That's because on Sept. 30, one of her sons was arrested for cooking
methamphetamine on the property for a third time. For breaking the
law, Kyle John Heward, 34, was sentenced to more than four years in prison.

Kyle got a prison term, and because of what he did his mother and a
brother, Scott, are banned from their property at 2415 Marion St.
until they can raise $4,000 to pay a professional cleaning service to
eliminate the methamphetamine residue from every cranny of the home
and every corner of a small shed on the site.

Scott and his mother are negotiating with Suzanne Keirnes-Smith of
Eugene to do the decontamination. Scott, who works at the VFW, said
he contacted a number of mid-valley firms but settled on
Keirnes-Smith because she "works fairly cheaply, and she accepts
installment payments."

Ann, manager of a cash store in Corvallis, who now is raising Kyle's
two children, had rented the house to Kyle and his family while she
and Scott lived elsewhere. Ann wants to get the house decontaminated
as soon as possible because she plans to retire to the property she
bought in 1991 after her husband died.

Unfortunately, people such as Ann and Scott become unwilling victims
when family members use and cook methamphetamine in a home, said
Charles McConnell of American Decontamination Specialists in
Philomath. McConnell's company cleans sites that contained meth labs.

"Oftentimes these places are populated by kids who have come home for
whatever reason and they end up using or making meth in their
parents' or grandparents' houses," he said. "Economically, their
behavior puts their parents and grandparents at great risk because of
the expensive burden of cleanup. Insurance doesn't generally pay for a cleanup.

"Often the affected family members are older and retired and do not
have the money to move elsewhere while the cleanup is going on or to
buy another place altogether," McConnell said.

Because of the cost of decontamination, which can go as high as
$15,000 in some cases, some renters and property owners continue to
live in a drug house despite the possibility of developing health
problems, said Loren Garner.

He is an environmental health specialist with the state Department of
Human Services Drug Lab Cleanup Program in Portland. He maintains a
Web site that lists, along with other information, properties in
every county in Oregon awaiting a meth cleanup.

Much of the cost is associated with removing large amounts of
chemical waste that accumulates with meth production. One pound of
meth can create five to seven pounds of waste, Garner said. That
waste is often piled in and around a meth location.

To prevent the contamination of cleanup crews, workers wear Tyvek
suits and half-face respirators, said Donna Kroese of Kroese
Contracting of Lebanon.

Her state-licensed firm cleans up meth sites around the state.

Because the workers are so well protected, they haul out everything,
unbagged, from a house and put it in a secure trailer.

The debris is taken to a landfill for disposal. Landfills do not take
extra precautions with the material because the chemicals in the
debris eventually break down, she said.

According to information at the state Web site, special precautions
must be taken by cleanup workers during a decontamination because
health problems can arise from exposure to the chemicals.

The chemicals involved with producing meth include solvents, metals,
salts and strong acids.

The chemical residue and remaining vapors from production can produce
tears and inflame the cornea. Inhalation can result in irritation to
the nose and throat, cause a shortness of breath, and cause bleeding
and fluid to appear in the lungs.

Other symptoms from exposure can include headache, nausea, dizziness,
lack of coordination, loss of consciousness, and damage to the liver
and kidneys.

Direct contact with corrosives can cause severe eye and skin burns.

Chemicals that are solid present little inhalation risk unless
environmental factors, such as air movement, fire, or explosion,
release them in the air as dust or vapors.

Solid substances in the form of fine powders are easily inhaled.