Series: Coming Clean (Part 2A)

BUSINESS GOOD FOR CLEANUP SPECIALIST

In the past 11/2 years, calls for cleanup of recently raided
methamphetamine labs have tripled at Dan Hannan's business.

Requests to the Minneapolis-based Assured Decontamination Services come
from all over: Michigan, Minnesota, South Carolina, North Carolina, 17
states in all. Hannan estimates his company gets a call a week from Tennessee.

North Carolina also provides frequent business for the company, which has
an office in Raleigh, Hannan says.

Assured Decontamination is one of five companies listed with the North
Carolina Occupational and Environmental Branch that provide decontamination
services at former methamphetamine labs.

According to Hannan, decontamination of former meth labs is a two-part process.

Customers contact the company after all the leftover items used in the
manufacture of methamphetamine are removed.

An initial assessment gives technicians "kind of a snapshot" of the
property, Hannan says. The company also gathers information about the
structure, such as construction style and size.

A technician performs a visual inspection looking for any unusual odors,
stains or residue. An air test samples the amount of harmful chemicals
inside the home.

The worker also checks for corrosives on areas like countertops and sewer
drains. Wipe samples test for the presence of methamphetamine residue.

The worker also checks for any environmental effects in well water or a
septic system if there was evidence of dumping by-products outside.

The initial check also includes a review of any law enforcement information
like police reports about the set up or operation of the lab as it was found.

When the laboratory work is complete, the company issues a report with
conclusions and recommendations for clean up.

A property owner can either do the work themselves or call in a contractor
to complete the job, Hannan says.

Depending on the level of contamination, technicians remove the carpet and
padding and clean the ventilation lines inside the home.

The walls, floors and ceilings must be thoroughly washed and the wood work
and trim must be primed and painted. Unpainted wood must be varnished.

When repair is done, Decontamination Services returns for a follow-up check
to make sure problems have been corrected, Hannan said.

A final report is completed and turned over to the health department
official in charge of keeping track of former meth labs.

In some of the states he's worked, Hannan has seen problems with the
disclosure of former meth sites to renters or buyers.

Some states require that a notation be placed on the deed telling future
buyers of the status.

But in others, "it really is buyer beware," he says. "You have to do a lot
of the homework yourself."

Commercial properties pose even more of a problem.

He knows of situations where a renter moves into an apartment that once
housed a makeshift lab, "and the kids are reporting headaches, chronic
nosebleeds, that kind of thing. And people start asking what's going on?"

In many instances, the renter just somehow stumbles across the information,
he adds.

For the states that don't have regulations, Assured Decontamination
Services uses rules that have been established in another state.

The problem has slowly improved, he says, especially with initiatives like
the new regulations in North Carolina and federal legislation now under
consideration.

"The hazards are becoming better understood," he says. "The crux of the
problem is that there are no national standards for limits" of
methamphetamine by-product exposure, he says. "States have their own
regulations, and usually it's based on what the state toxicologists say."

"If you have 15,000 to 20,000 meth lab busts a year (nationwide), you
figure that's probably about 10,000 homes that need attention or should be
getting attention."