Series: Coming Clean (Part 1A)

ARE STATE RULES ON METH CLEANUP TOUGH ENOUGH?

From the outside, the handsome modular home on Correll Loop Road doesn't
look like a meth lab.

A flagstone walk with solar lamps on the side leads up to the wide, wooden
porch.

The landscape features potted flowers, mulched planting beds and various
adornments, such as a concrete bird bath situated behind a semi-circle
driveway.

The lawn has been neatly trimmed and mowed.

But inside, the house is in disarray. Rowan County Sheriff's deputies
raided the home March 29 and arrested two men for operating a
methamphetamine lab.

The house still shows signs of that invasion. It also betrays the results
of its "cleaning" later in the spring.

A contractor for Crime Scene Cleaning Inc., based in California, ripped out
the living room and dining room carpet and hauled away a sectional sofa,
love seat and recliner - all judged to have residual chemical contamination
from the clandestine laboratory.

Documents filed with the Rowan County Health Department say contractor Mike
O'Rourke of Dobson also ventilated the house, washed drapes, machine-washed
clothing and cleaned walls, floors and appliances.

Joyce Hartman Jones ended up paying O'Rourke $1,000 for his services. She
calls it a "ripoff."

"This house was cleaner before than when they came in here," she complains.

As owner of the home (she lives in another house close by), Jones had to
satisfy new cleanup rules for a clandestine methamphetamine site and
provide evidence that it had been decontaminated before the residence could
be occupied again.

Lynn Aldridge, environmental health supervisor for the Rowan County Health
Department, says Jones has met the state requirements.

Meanwhile, the case against her son, 30-year-old Shannon Hartman, and his
friend Jeff Honeycutt has yet to be heard in court.

Jones defends her son and contends that the home, even though she went
through the cost of a cleanup, never had an active meth lab.

"My grandbabies could lay on that couch," she said of furniture that had to
be discarded. "I know there was nothing being cooked in here."

Health Concerns

Jones' property is the first in Rowan County that has had to be cleaned
under the new cleanup procedures.

The 2004 General Assembly mandated that the Commission for Health Services
come up with rules to address residual contamination that could be left
behind in a house, business, mobile home, apartment, storage building,
motel room, car or other place where methamphetamine has been "cooked" in a
clandestine laboratory.

The commission passed temporary rules in December, and permanent rules,
which follow closely cleanup guidelines adopted in several other states,
went into effect April 1.

Why the concern about cleaning up clandestine meth labs?

Law enforcement officers and State Bureau of Investigation decontamination
teams face acute (short-term) exposure when they first enter a lab and
confront the bulk contamination materials - the reason they often are
pictured during meth-lab busts in "moonsuits."

Without proper precautions, they risk severe health problems such as lung
damage and burns to various parts of their bodies.

The fumes, vapors and spillage left behind from the cooking process of meth
also leave toxins in curtains, couches, plumbing, countertops, walls,
sinks, drains and ventilation systems.

Considerable anecdotal evidence suggests that a person's contact with this
residual contamination can lead to breathing problems, burns, skin
irritations, headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Little is known about the health effects from chronic (long-term) exposure
to contaminants. Still, the Washington State Department of Health cites
scientific evidence from animal and human toxicity studies showing that
chemicals used in the manufacture of meth can lead to cancer; brain, liver
and kidney damage; birth defects; and reproductive problems.

New Rules

Health officials welcome the state's new decontamination rules, as far as
they go.

Because North Carolina had no cleanup law in effect before December of last
year, many residents could be living in former meth labs without knowing it.

"That's certainly possible," Aldridge says. "That's the main thing that
drove these rules."

Even with the new rules in effect, North Carolina has no real standard -
neither does the nation as a whole - that determines whether residual
contamination is really gone. It's generally left up to cleaning
contractors to satisfy local health departments that they've done an
adequate job.

In addition, the state's real estate laws do not require a property owner,
manager or Realtor to disclose that a property was once a meth lab site, if
the owner has followed the mandated cleanup procedure and abated the problem.

Western states have had a much longer history dealing with clandestine meth
labs. The state of Washington posts former meth sites on a Web site, much
like a registry for sex offenders, and notifies lending institutions about
contaminated properties.

Washington and Colorado have numerical standards for the abatement of
methamphetamine and other chemicals.

Except for requiring the neutralization of liquid acids and bases to a pH
of 6 through 8, North Carolina doesn't require a numerical sampling of a
meth-lab site after decontamination has occurred.

"Some states require measurements that are not health-based," says Romie
Herring, an industrial hygiene consultant for North Carolina's Occupational
and Environmental Epidemiology Branch. "Some have made estimations and
assumptions and come up with a number. It's just a number. There is no
health-based standard."

Herring stresses, however, that "there certainly is the potential for
health impact, particularly for kids."

Herring says he believes the state's new rules can be as effective as other
states, if "everyone does what they're supposed to do."

Some other states require real estate disclosure forms to note whether a
property is a former meth lab, or even put that information permanently on
a deed. Oregon levies stiff penalties against property owners who fail to
inform buyers that their properties had been former meth labs.

Many states have no cleanup regulations at all.

Growing Problem

State and national statistics reveal that the do-it-yourself production of
methamphetamine is the fastest-growing drug in the United States.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that known meth labs have
increased from just under 400 in 1992 to nearly 17,000 last year.
Meth-making operations have been uncovered in all 50 states.

In North Carolina, the numbers have steadily risen. The state had only nine
meth lab busts in 1999. By 2004, the number was 322, up from 177 the
previous year. Through August, state law enforcement agencies had uncovered
244 meth labs, according to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Rowan County authorities have reported at least 11 seizures of meth labs
here since 2000. (See related story, Page 7A.)

A Witch's Brew

Methamphetamine is an unlawful, highly addictive stimulant that goes by
many other street names such as "ice," "crank," "speed," "stovetop" and
"lemon drop." It can be smoked, snorted, taken by mouth and injected,
coming in both powder and granulated (or rock) forms.

Several different techniques are used to produce meth, and they depend on a
variety of chemicals including explosives, solvents, metals, salts and
corrosives.

The ingredients are easy to find in local stores. Over-the-counter cold
medicines containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are commonly cooked in
the labs to make meth.

Other materials or ingredients might include anhydrous ammonia
(fertilizer), starter fluid, lithium batteries, drain cleaner, road flares,
matchbooks (red phosphorus), iodine crystals, hydrogen peroxide and salt.

The cooking process creates a witch's brew.

Scientists say a lab produces 5 to 7 pounds of toxic waste for every pound
of methamphetamine yielded.

John Martyny, an associate professor of medicine at the National Jewish
Medical & Research Center in Colorado, has performed the most extensive
research to date on what chemicals are released during a meth lab's operation.

Martyny and other agencies gathered data on exposures at three controlled
"cooks" of methamphetamine - in a scientific laboratory, house and motel
room. They also measured residual contamination at 15 former meth-lab sites.

The team found levels of iodine, phosphine and hydrochloric acid that
exceeded current occupational levels during a cook. They also found that
large amounts of methamphetamine were released into the air and deposited
on horizontal and vertical surfaces throughout a building.

"These are biologically significant levels of methamphetamine, especially
for small children who explore their environment by crawling and putting
things in their mouths," Martyny said after his 2003 study.

Meth houses, he added, remain heavily contaminated at least six months
after an actual cook takes place, and he strongly supports cleaning
surfaces, removing porous materials and testing for residual
methamphetamine before and after a cleanup.

Enforcement Focus

Until recently, cleanup rules in North Carolina and the nation as a whole
have taken a back seat to enforcement.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper says his focus remains on preventing and
busting clandestine labs. He believes the best approach to prevent more
people from being endangered by labs is to cut criminal access to the key
ingredients - a reason he has proposed placing cold tablets behind pharmacy
counters.

The Rowan Meth Watch program also enlists its business participants to
report any suspicious activity to law enforcement, put shelf tags on
products that can be used to produce meth and train employees on the
dangers of the drug. Nothing in the program yet has touched on the cleanup
of former meth-lab sites.

As for whether North Carolina has adequate cleanup requirements for former
meth-lab sites, Cooper says, "We're relying on the state scientists and
health experts to make sure we have that in place."

Much of the burden of enforcing proper cleanup falls, however, to local
health departments.

"It's a very important, concerning issue," Rowan County Health Director
Leonard Wood says. "Something needed to be done."

'A File Cabinet'

Wood says the General Assembly called for cleanup rules because of the
proliferation of meth labs, especially in North Carolina's western
counties. As is often the case, Wood complains, the state mandated rules
that require the local health departments to do the extra work without any
additional funding for personnel, training or equipment.

"Our approach is to deal with it in a straightforward manner," Wood says.
Mostly, that means keeping track of the paperwork.

The local health department "is kind of a file cabinet," says Aldridge, the
department's environmental health supervisor.

The cleanup burden and expense falls on property owners such as Jones.

After law enforcement posts a business or residence as a clandestine lab,
the health department notifies the property owner by letter that it cannot
be occupied again until it has been properly decontaminated.

The state-outlined process requires a pre-decontamination assessment of the
site, the decontamination itself, a post-decontamination report and a
review by the health department of all the templates.

As in Jones' case, most property owners hire a contractor who specializes
in cleaning up crime scenes or meth labs and is familiar with the
requirements. The state and local health departments have a small list of
those contractors, though a property owner could do it or hire someone else.

The state rules on decontamination are detailed, specific and
time-consuming, if followed to the letter.

They give instructions on ventilation; getting rid of chemical remnants;
remediating plumbing, heating and air-conditioning systems; disposing of
non-washable porous materials, such as upholstered furniture and
mattresses; machine-washing porous draperies, bed coverings and clothing;
disposing of or wiping down appliances; scrubbing ceilings, walls and
floors up to three times; and painting surfaces if odors linger.

Checking The Blanks

The state rules do not require any kind of inspection by the health
departments, just the documentation that decontamination has occurred.

Aldridge never had to visit or inspect Jones' property, for example, and
trusted the contractor to decontaminate the home properly.

The documentation stays on file with the health department for three years.

"All we really do is check the blanks and make sure they've done one and
the other," Aldridge says. "I don't write anything if the house is cleaned.
After it's all said and done, I don't write any kind of statement."

Aldridge acknowledges that other counties have taken a more aggressive
role, deciding to make personal inspections before and after
decontamination measures. But without the proper training and equipment,
Aldridge says, the Rowan Health Department has not been comfortable putting
its employees in that position.

Aldridge notes that a property owner could decide never to clean up a
former meth-lab site.

"The house can sit there vacant from now until the cows come home," he
says. He expresses concern, however, that some former meth-lab properties
that are never cleaned will get "lost" and be reoccupied years down the road.

Aldridge also warns that mobile home meth labs are just that - mobile - and
could be moved to a new site and rented to unsuspecting tenants without
ever having been cleaned properly.

Disclosure

Rick Zechini, director of regulatory affairs for the N.C. Association of
Realtors, says he considers the state's cleanup rules "pretty stringent"
and a substantial undertaking for property owners.

Will they work in protecting North Carolinians?

"I think we're in the process of finding out," Zechini says. "We're still
wading our way into these waters. ... I was concerned when I learned that
the cost of doing a cleanup was going to be two or three times what it was
represented during the (legislative) process."

Zechini stands by a Realtor's not having to disclose to a potential buyer
or renter that a property was a former meth lab, if the site has been
cleaned up according to the new rules.

"If you've cleaned the property up and the issue is resolved, there is no
need to disclose," he says. "That's not unique to this issue. It's
universal. You don't make people disclose for things that don't exist anymore."

Moral Responsibility?

As with the Realtors group, the Apartment Association of North Carolina
played a role in the discussions leading to the General Assembly's
legislation. "We're generally supportive of those rules because they set a
standard," says Apartment Association President Scott Wilkerson of
Charlotte. "At least now we know what to do."

Ken Szymanski, executive director of the apartment association,
acknowledges that disclosure about former meth lab sites is not required,
as long as the problem has been abated to the satisfaction of state rules
and local health departments. That doesn't mean landlords can't tell a
prospective tenant, he says.

"It's a bit of a tightrope to walk," Szymanski adds. "It's a business
decision you have to make."

Jeff Smith, owner of Glover Realty in Salisbury, says the safety of "our
families and consumers is the most important thing," and he anticipates a
lot of discussion in the coming year about disclosure responsibilities
related to meth labs.

"Barring a restriction that says we can't disclose," Smith says, "I think
it is something we have a moral responsibility to disclose."

'Material Fact'

Real estate disclosure forms in North Carolina seek to elicit information
about the condition of a property, such as whether it has a leaky roof or
mold. There's also a disclosure requirement on existing environmental
hazards. If a property has been a former meth-lab site and it has not been
cleaned up, the seller would have to disclose that fact.

Miriam Baer, legal counsel for the N.C. Real Estate Commission, said
licensees are required to disclose material facts about a property when
they are, or should be, aware of them. The prior use of a property as a
meth lab is material, she says, but the duty for a seller to report that
fact only arises if he knows it.

Plus, if decontamination has occurred, no disclosure is required as long as
the cleanup is properly documented, Baer says.

The Real Estate Commission does not require licensees to check with local
health departments or law enforcement each time they list a property to
determine whether they are trying to sell or lease a former meth-lab site.

Because the rules are relatively new, many people in North Carolina aren't
aware that they exist. The state Realtors group, Real Estate Commission and
Apartment Association of North Carolina have been trying to spread the word
through newsletters and regular updates to members.

"All the questions haven't been answered," says Aldridge, the environmental
health supervisor in Rowan County, "but this (the new state rule) is a step
in the right direction."

A pet peeve of Aldridge's is a public perception that since health
departments are involved, "everything is wonderful."

"It's a tough sell to guarantee that a house is completely safe," he says.