Recent Home-Based Meth Lab Blurbs

Goffstown, New Hampshire: Two neighbors in a downtown apartment building were busted after a raid uncovered a small meth lab in their apartment. Reportedly, the investigation started early last month when local cops were tipped off by a hardware store about the purchase of toluene, iodine and other materials used to manufacture methamphetamine. See Goffstown pair charged in meth lab raid.

Marshfield, Wisconsin: A meth lab was discovered Wednesday morning during a search warrant on the lower level of a rental duplex by local cops and other agencies, including the Wisconsin State Patrol and Department of Justice. A hazardous materials cleanup of the property was ordered and was conducted by a specialized DEA cleanup team. The property is secured and will be guarded until cleanup is completed. See Meth lab busted in Marshfield.

Austin, Texas: A baby is in the hospital and the parents behind bars after police say they discovered a meth lab in South Austin. Cops, who were serving a warrant, said they were overcome with the smell of chemicals used to make meth when they opened the door. Neighboring homes were not evacuated, but police said it took hazardous materials crews hours to clean up the scene. See Baby Taken To Hospital As Police Investigate Meth Lab.

Atwater, Minnesota: A local man was arraigned on three felony charges for meth manufacture and drug possession after cops found an operating meth lab in an Atwater home. The home was marked as a meth lab by agents and then turned over to a hazardous materials crew for cleanup of the contaminated and hazardous materials. There were 15 chemistry books in the basement bedroom, the complaint states, with pages marked to topics used in the process of cooking meth. See Man charged after meth lab discovered in Atwater home.

Wilmer, Alabama: Cops arrested a local couple accused of running a meth lab in a shed behind their home. In addition to the meth charges, the couple will also face a felony charge of chemical endangerment of a child because a minor was in the home at the time of their arrest. See Husband & Wife Running a Meth Lab.

Williamsburg, Virginia: Local cops arrest three and are searching for two others wanted in connection with the discovery of what officers believe is a home-based meth lab in one unit in an apartment complex. According to a search warrant, the cops began tracking the suspects last month after discovering they had made multiple Sudafed purchases at local drugstores. See Suspected meth lab is busted by police.

South Hills, West Virginia: One man is in jail after a lit cigarette caused his residence, one of four connected townhouses in South Hills, to catch fire and expose a secret methamphetamine lab, investigators said. The firewalls contained the damage to the one unit. See Townhouse burns in meth lab explosion.

Lincoln County, North Carolina: Police arrested two men after they found the makings of a meth lab in their motel room. Police worked off a tip from an informant. More than 30 people staying at the hotel were evacuated for several hours. See Police: Meth Lab Busted.

Perry County, Indiana: A man was found dead inside a burning car in which items used to manufacture meth were found. The evidence leads cops to believe that the car was used as a mobile meth lab, which they say is becoming more and more common. "It is very possible that a meth lab could be in a vehicle next to you while you are traveling down the highway," said Todd Ringle of the Indiana State Police. See Man burns in meth lab fire.

Louisville, Kentucky: Cops bag a portable meth lab inside a car after making a routine traffic stop on a local freeway. One of the officers noticed some paraphernalia and meth inside the car before noticing the meth lab inside. A nearby ramp leading to the freeway was shut down for several hours due to the danger of the chemicals found. See 'Rolling meth lab' shuts down Gene Snyder ramp.

Bloomfield, Ohio: Cops nail two with meth, child endangerment charges in home-based lab bust. The suspects were tracked down through a steady pattern of Sudafed bought at local drug stores. Due to its use in the production of methamphetemine, many pharmacies require consumers to sign a form when buying Sudafed. Two children found in the house and believed to be contaminated by the drugs, which can be absorbed through the skin, were decontaminated before being turned over to relatives. See Meth lab tracked by cold medicine sales.

Brevard County, Florida: In response to a domestic violence call, Brevard County cops find a 7-month-old-baby boy in an active meth lab. Authorities say the baby's mother ran a meth lab out of a home she shared with her husband and a roommate. Deputies found equipment and chemicals used to make meth, in addition to over 100 grams of the drug. The baby was rushed to a local hospital, and the three adults are in police custody. See Baby in Meth Lab.

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For a related post on meth labs and the problems they cause in homes that once housed them, see The Invisible Legacy Left In Homes Used As Meth Labs.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta meth lab yak

Unwitting Denver Couple Left Holding The Bag On Recent REO Buy As Foreclosing Lender Unloads Meth-Infected Time Bomb On Young Family

In Denver, Colorado, KMGH-TV Channel 7 reports:

• Josh and Areli LeFevre have spent tens of thousands of dollars renovating a house in the south side of Denver as a new home for their growing family. But they didn’t know the previous tenants cooked methamphetamine in the house until a neighbor brought it up. “We were just outside talking about what we were going to do to the house, and he came up to us and just told us it was a meth lab,” Areli LeFevre said.



• The couple called their Realtor who told them the house had been cleaned up and had a certificate of the cleanup filed with the Denver Department of Environmental Health. But CALL7 Investigators retested the house, finding it still tested positive for the drugs. The attic was 10 times over what the state regulations say are acceptable.



• The LeFevres are at a loss for what to do. "We’re just concerned about it because we have a baby,” Areli said. "We live here. I’m trying to get pregnant again so we’re just mad about it."



• An expert, who testified about meth contamination and clean up at the General Assembly when lawmakers passed the regulations in 2006, said the state certification process does not ensure a house is safe to inhabit. The owner of a meth house must have it cleaned and then that company certifies that the property is safe for people to inhabit. A certificate of the cleanup is filed with the county. But the county never verifies the house was properly cleaned up because the legislature never provided funding to check the houses. And the seller doesn’t have to notify a buyer that there was a meth lab in the house because it is certified as cleaned up.



• The LeFevres’ house wasn’t the only one meth testing consultant Caoimhín Connell found was certified cleaned but still had high levels of meth residue.

***

• The LeFevres’ house was a foreclosure they bought from a bank, and Connell said the banks often have an incentive to get the affidavit and sell the house whether it’s safe or not.



• "My experience is that if (it's) a foreclosure and banks want to move that along, they’re hoping to get someone to issue a letter and say it’s OK even when it’s not OK," Connell said. (Sellers) "hold up that affidavit and say we’re off the hook, we did our best and (the affidavit) may never be seen again."(1)

For more, see Meth May Remain In Homes After Certified Cleaning (CALL7 Investigators Find Meth In Home Despite Certificate With City Saying It's Clean).

(1) For other stories relating to the unwitting purchase of homes infected with methamphetamine residue, see:

• Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue),
• Lawyer Successfully Squeezes Settlement From Insurer For Client's Damage Claim From Unknown Meth Lab,
• Unwitting Buyer Of Home Used As Meth Lab Wins Lawsuit Against Broker, Seller; Court Orders Rescission, Damages, Attorney Fees,
• Wave Of Meth Lab Home Contamination Litigation On The Horizon?,
• Ohio Woman Unwittingly Buys Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Sues Former Owner While Fighting Foreclosure; Fears Connection To Kids' Chronic Illnesses,
• Minnesota Couple Duped Into Buying Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Arbitration Award A "Pyrrhic" Victory, Lender May Wind Up Holding The Bag,
• Post-Closing Meth Contamination Discovery Keeps Couple From Moving Into 1st Home As 'Wells' Unloads REO Once Used By Squatters As 'Party Pad',
• HUD Left Holding The Bag On Potentially 'Flammable F'closure' As Hazardous Materials Crews Step In, Rip Apart Premises In Search For 'Meth' Chemicals.

More On Neighborhood Meth Labs

The following are stories, some recent - some not-so-recent - related to the operation of local neighborhood meth labs:

Hollywood, Florida: Hollywood homes evacuated as suspected meth lab found (Cops find home used as a meth lab, and which also contained several high-powered weapons, ammunition and grenades. Police evacuated between 40 and 50 homes in a two-block area).

Dundee, Minnesota: Cleaning up the meth mess (Describes what a remediation company is up against when a home is assessed and declared to be contaminated by meth),

Upton, Kentucky: Task force takes down another meth lab (Greater Hardin County Drug Task Force agents assisting Kentucky State Police reported a third meth lab within a week being found inside Hardin County. Local drug task force agents report finding more than a dozen labs within the past month),

Powell River, Canada: Police launch meth lab raid (Cops raid and dismantle a small methamphetamine lab in a rental house, resulting in the evacuation of some of the building's tenants),

Berkeley County, South Carolina: Berkeley County Deputies Bust Meth Lab (Several nearby business, including a day care, under voluntary evacuation as a precaution),

Phelan, Alabama: 4 Phelen residents arrested in meth bust (Hazmat unit decontaminated the area and the four suspects before locking them up & holding them on a $1 million property bond),

Charleston, West Virginia: Man indicted for running meth lab (Police say suspect was using lithium in a rare manufacturing process called "the Nazi method," a highly dangerous technique that poses significant explosion risk. Authorities evacuated neighbors around the home for more than 12 hours while a crew dismantled the lab and cleaned up the dangerous materials. A bomb squad was called in as a precaution.).

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For the kinds of health and safety concerns arising from using homes to manufacture methamphetamine, not to mention the kind of damage such operations can inflict on a home, see:

• Beware Of Homes Used As Indoor Pot Farms & Meth Labs,
• Homes Toxic Home (Buyers Beware: Owners of homes once used as methamphetamine labs are having health problems -- and sometimes going broke trying to clean up their toxic houses) (no longer available online).

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta meth lab yak

Post-Closing Meth Contamination Discovery Keeps Couple From Moving Into 1st Home As 'Wells' Unloads REO Once Used By Squatters As 'Party Pad'

In Colorado Springs, Colorado, The Gazette reports:

• In a scenario that plagues all too many homebuyers throughout the U.S., the Hardys discovered they’d bought a house contaminated by methamphetamine. In this case, the contamination apparently came from people using, not manufacturing, meth. (Click here to read a Q&A on how properties can become contaminated with meth.)
• No matter; several samples taken from the house tested positive for meth contamination, and not willing to expose themselves to it anymore than they already had, the Hardys haven’t entered it since.
• Now, they’re stuck with a $1,114-a-month house payment on a property they can’t occupy, while facing enormous cleanup costs. All their belongings, including the new furniture, remain in the house. Lauren, who learned she was pregnant right around the closing, miscarried a few weeks later.
• Lauren’s father, Bob Wenz, has become the couple’s advocate, trying to make things right and hold someone accountable, but it may be a difficult battle to win. “It’s a mess,” Wenz said.
• The Hardys want theirs to be a cautionary tale for anyone purchasing a house in Colorado, and they offer one piece of advice: Spring for the money for a meth-contamination test, because you can’t count on current laws to protect you, and you can’t know for sure what once took place in that property.

***

• The house, built in 1989, went into foreclosure in July 2009. Wenz said it appears the owners had been renting it, and the renters trashed it. The bank that serviced the mortgage, Wells Fargo, took ownership of the house, then turned it over to the Veterans Administration, which guaranteed the loan.
• Around that time, neighbors were reporting suspicious activity at the house, with people coming and going at all hours of the day. One neighbor, Mary Meredith, called the Wells Fargo office in San Francisco and spoke to someone in the president’s office.
• “What I told them was that there was a lot of traffic going in and out of the house,” she said. “We felt there were people who were actually — I guess the term would be squatting — in the house, and we suspected extensive drug use in the house, if not trafficking.”
• It’s possible that Meredith’s complaint could have triggered a test for meth contamination and a cleanup, but no one acted on it. Jason Menke, a spokesman for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, says their records show that neighbors called twice in July 2009 to report the property was “not secure,” and Wells Fargo passed along the information to the VA.
• “Our records indicate we were made aware that the property was not secure, but there’s nothing specific related to drug use or activity,” he said. The VA did not return phone calls to discuss what information they were given or whether they had reports of drug use at the house.
• A series of arrests at the house in 2009 also failed to trigger any notification of possible meth contamination. In June 2009, sheriff’s deputies went to the house to check on a complaint about barking dogs and arrested a woman for possession of drug paraphernalia.
• About three months later, deputies were called to the house again, and encountered the same woman, who admitted she had been “partying heavily the past few weeks,” according to the report. Deputies found meth in the master bedroom and another bedroom. The house was in shambles, the toilets were full of feces, and dog feces littered the basement floor.

For more, see Meth contamination haunts Springs homebuyers ('It really is buyer beware').

(1) For other stories relating to the unwitting purchase of homes infected with methamphetamine residue, see:

• Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue),
• Lawyer Successfully Squeezes Settlement From Insurer For Client's Damage Claim From Unknown Meth Lab,
• Unwitting Buyer Of Home Used As Meth Lab Wins Lawsuit Against Broker, Seller; Court Orders Rescission, Damages, Attorney Fees,
• Wave Of Meth Lab Home Contamination Litigation On The Horizon?,
• Ohio Woman Unwittingly Buys Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Sues Former Owner While Fighting Foreclosure; Fears Connection To Kids' Chronic Illnesses,
• Minnesota Couple Duped Into Buying Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Arbitration Award A "Pyrrhic" Victory, Lender May Wind Up Holding The Bag,
• Go here for more posts on meth home horror stories.

Meth Lab Operators Busted In Rented Homes Leave Big Contamination Clean-Up Bills For Unwitting Landlords; One Owner Considers Opting For Foreclosure In Lieu Of Footing Stiff Tab

In Louisville, Kentucky, WAVE-TV Channel 3 reports:

• When is living in a former meth lab only sort of dangerous? That's the question facing hundreds of property owners across Kentucky as they grapple with the high cost of cleaning up toxic methamphetamine contamination.
  
  Some believe the state regulations are too strict. Landlords often file appeals with the state to get their meth contamination notices downgraded. And only a third of all meth contaminated homes in Kentucky are properly cleaned up.
  
  "I had no idea what was going on," Steven Outland said.
  
  Outland is living in a former meth lab. His roommates were arrested for cooking methamphetamine in the home they shared on Powell Avenue in Louisville's south end. The health department immediately posted a notice of methamphetamine contamination. It warns "hazardous chemicals and residual contamination... may pose a serious health threat to those that enter."
  
  Outland moved out, but only for a little while. "I actually just spent a week in a homeless shelter and decided that was enough so I came here," he said.
  
  The owner of the house, Don Sinclair, said he wants to clean up but can't afford it, so he's just going to let the home fall into foreclosure. State certified contractors charge between $3,000-$5,000 for even the smallest meth labs. The high price tag is largely because most contamination levels are automatically labeled tier 3 in the state required assessment done by police.
  
  In Jefferson County, there are dozens of homes where meth contamination warnings were ignored. That's because there is no law that actually forces a home owner to decontaminate a home where someone has been cooking meth.
  
  With so many meth labs located in low income areas, Energy and Environment Cabinet program coordinator Kim Greenidge knows cost makes it difficult to get these homes properly cleaned up. That's why Greenidge says Kentucky created an appeals process for property owners who don't think they have as much meth contamination as reported on that initial assessment.
  
  But in 2012, only 5 tier reduction appeals were granted because even small labs can leave behind dangerous toxins when used repeatedly over a period of time.
  
  That means huge headaches and bills for property owners like Dave Melton, who had to hire a state certified contractor after a tenant was arrested for cooking meth in his rental property on Swan Street in Louisville.
  
  "It wasn't an active lab when they did the bust," Melton said. "But there was some residual stuff." Residue that cost Melton thousands of dollars before he could safely rent out the property again.
  
  The Kentucky Housing Corporation created a program to help innocent homeowners pay the decontamination costs but landlords like Melton don't qualify. The fund is for homeowners living on site, like a grandmother living in a home where her grandson was secretly cooking meth in the basement. And the recipient also has to be low income.
  
  KHC said it recently spent $50,000 to clean up just two homes.

Source: Property owners appeal to get meth contamination downgraded.

Busted Single Family Home-Based Meth Labs Begin Finding Their Way Back Onto The Real Estate Market

In Ardmore, Oklahoma, KXII-TV Channel 12 reports:

• When a meth lab is busted, law enforcement removes all the chemicals, drugs and lab components, but the meth isn't entirely gone. "Itching eyes, burning skin, it may be difficult to breathe," said Bill Coye, who is a registered nurse and owner of Apex Bioclean--a company that cleans meth labs.
  
  Those symptoms are just an example of what a family living in a former lab can experience, and Coye said the fix is remediation. "Anything absorbent in the home has to be removed," he said. "Carpet pad, tack strip, ceiling texture if it's very coarse. And what do you do with the furnace and the duct work?"
  
  Coye's company tests the level of chemical residue, scrubs the house top to bottom, and retests.But depending on the level of contamination and size of the home that can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000.(1)
  
  Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward explains that law enforcement puts a placard on the door stating that the property was a meth lab and that the owner needs to have it cleaned--but the owner doesn't always foot the bill.
  
  "Some we fear are taking the placard off the door when we leave, airing the house out, putting some new paint on the walls, new carpet, smells wonderful like a brand new apartment and they rent it to somebody else," Woodward said.
  
  That's because the law in Oklahoma doesn't require homeowners or landlords to clean a home before selling or renting. They are required by law to disclose to tenants or buyers that the home used to be a meth lab. But Rita Ponder with Frances One Realty said it can get tricky if the home was a foreclosure--and they often are. "It's just a home that's put on the market, and we try to sell," Ponder said. "But we don't know the circumstances of the home."
  
  Last year 829 homes were busted as meth labs in the state, and with that number on the rise, Woodward said some Oklahomans have wondered why no law exists requiring meth lab cleanup. The answer comes down to money. "Is it the Bureau of Narcotics that pays and then we recoup the loss from the defendants? Well no, because the defendants don't have any money," said Woodward.
  
  And OBN estimates it would cost the state between $17 million and $37 million to finance all the cleanups.
  
  So to avoid being stuck with the bill, Woodward, Coye and Ponder all recommend doing your homework before you move in: ask neighbors about the history of the home, ask the police or sheriff's office to look it up, or check the DEA's list of clandestine labs online. But the only way to really know is to test.
  
  "To make sure that that individual who moves into that house with his or her family is going to be safe," said Coye. "And that really is what this is about. This is about public health and safety."
  
  If you've already moved into a former meth lab and that fact wasn't disclosed by the seller or landlord, Woodward adds that you have grounds for legal action.

Source: Busted meth labs go back on housing market.

(1) See, generally, METH: Cleaning the site of a former meth lab can be costly.

County Ordinance Requires Clean-Up Or Tear Down Of Homes Formerly Housing Meth Labs

In Kanawha County, West Virginia, The State Journal reports:

• Five years after a meth lab bust, a Kanawha County mobile home [...] was boarded up Monday. It took so long because the bust happened three years prior to the passage of a county ordinance which requires property owners to clean up the meth or the property is torn down. Neither the county, tenant nor landlord knew of the home's criminal past until Monday. "We acted when we found out about it," said David Armstrong, the deputy emergency services director for the county's planning and community development office. "If I don't know about it, I can't fix it." The tenant [...] brought the lab's history to light after searching federal court records.

For more, see How To Find Out If You're Living In a Former Meth Home.

See also, WOWK-TV Channel 13: Family Lived in Former Meth House for 4 Years (The tenant and her daughter, who were living with 29 times the acceptable limits of meth residue, are now homeless).

For a related post on meth labs and the problems they cause in homes that once housed them, see The Invisible Legacy Left In Homes Used As Meth Labs.

Check the the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) National Clandestine Laboratory Register for (what the DEA admits to being) an incomplete list of possible locations of former neighborhood meth labs that have been reported to the DEA by local and Federal law enforcement authorities.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta

Property Used As Meth Lab Spells Disaster For Homebuyer; Forced To Quit Job Due To Illness, Home Now In Foreclosure

In Fort Wayne, Indiana, The Journal Gazette reports:

• The headaches, muscle aches and breathing problems began shortly after she moved in, but Julie McCoy Sabatino was slow to blame her house for making her sick. She was shocked to realize she should: Methamphetamines had been produced in the house, just months before she bought it. Several years after the state began requiring counties to maintain records, Indiana’s accounting of its meth houses remains patchwork and incomplete. And because those public records go back only a couple of years in a state where meth has been a major problem for more than a decade, they are no help to people like McCoy Sabatino.

***

• The previous owner – who had rented out the home to tenants who were arrested in connection with producing meth – said she had washed the walls of the home with bleach and other cleaners six times in an effort to properly clean it, according to a copy of the correspondence provided by McCoy Sabatino. That probably wasn’t enough, according to federal guidelines on meth-lab cleanup recently issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The drug can seep into countertops and drywall. Most carpeting should probably be replaced. The remaining surfaces should be professionally tested for contamination, according to the guidelines. All this can come at wildly variable cost to the homeowner – from $5,000 to $150,000, the EPA report said. Property owners, even those not cooking meth themselves, typically foot the bill.

• McCoy Sabatino said the health effects from living with meth’s ghosts forced her to quit her factory job and apply for disability benefits. [...] Three years after she bought the home, it’s gone into foreclosure. McCoy Sabatino said she couldn’t afford payments because of her family’s medical bills and her job loss. She said she doesn’t see the point in paying on a house she’s come to see as a death trap.

For the story, see Old meth lab poisons dream home (State recordkeeping largely outpaced by makers of drug).

In related stories, see:

• The Journal Gazette: Cleaning up after meth,
• The National Law Journal: Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue). meth lab yak

Salt Lake Health Dept. Not Liable For Incorrectly Declaring Ex-Meth House Safe; Homeowners Vacate, Leaving Lender Holding The Bag

In Salt Lake County, Utah, KSL-TV Channel 5 reports:

• A Salt Lake County family is devastated after a judge ruled they can't sue the health department for negligence. The family unknowingly purchased a home that was once a meth lab, but the Salt Lake Valley Health Department (SLVHD) later told them inspectors had declared it was safe to live in. Our investigative team tested the home last year and discovered it was still contaminated with meth.

• [Friday], a district court judge dismissed the [family's] lawsuit against the SLVHD, because there's a Utah law in place that protects the agency from liability. It's called Governmental Immunity -- basically the [family] can accuse the health department of negligence, they just can't sue them over it.

***

• After a neighbor informed the family they'd purchased a former meth lab, the health department assured them it had been decontaminated, it was even in writing. Then, last spring, we came along and tested the home and found meth contamination all over the place. [...] Here are the facts for the [family]: They can't afford the $40,000 it'll cost to decontaminate the meth home, and it'll go into foreclosure.

For more, see Court: Family can't sue health department over meth house.

In a related KSL-TV Channel 5 report, see: Former Meth Houses Declared "Safe" May Not Be:

• Hundreds of Utah homes, former meth labs, have been shut down until they're rid of the dangerous drug. But an Eyewitness News Investigation uncovers disturbing evidence: Homes the government reopened and declared safe, may not be. [...] We discovered there are now more than 250 homes in the Salt Lake area that were once meth labs. Do the people living there now know that? Or did sellers keep it a secret? We went knocking on some doors.

Go here and Go here for other posts on home-based methamphetamine labs.

Editor's Note:

The day mortgage lenders begin requiring mold and methamphetamine inspections(1) from homebuyers seeking a home loan may soon be approaching (and could become as common as getting a termite inspection).

The day may also be coming when laws are changed to require law enforcement, health department officials, etc. to record a notice in the public record (the same way one records a lien against real estate) that a home, apartment, etc. was the cite of a methamphetamine or marijuana grow house bust and may require remediation. Such a notice, when discovered in the course of a title search, would warn both the homebuyer and lender of a "secret charge" (the cost of remediation) against the real estate that someone will ultimately have to "satify."

(1) At least in those homes that have a recent foreclosure listed in its chain of title. meth lab yak

80,000+ Meth Labs Seized Since 2004 Represent Small Fraction Of Homes Infected With Toxic Contaminants

CNNMoney reports:

• Call it crystal, crank, or ice, you don't want to live in a house where methamphetamine was cooked up. Many Americans, however, unwittingly purchase homes or rent apartments contaminated with the drug's poisonous residue.
  
  There have been nearly 84,000 meth lab seizures since 2004, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. But only a fraction of meth labs, as few as 5%, get discovered by authorities, according to Mark Woodward, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control.
  
  "Millions of people live in properties that were used as meth labs," said Joseph Mazzuca, who co-founded Meth Lab Cleanup in Athol, Idaho, with his wife, Julie. Last year, his company booked more than 1,500 jobs inspecting and decontaminating homes.

***

• Meth labs can turn up anywhere. Last year, one was found in a building of million-dollar-plus apartments on Manhattan's West Side. But the root of the problem lies in America's heartland. In states like Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, thousands of meth labs are discovered each year.

***

• For every pound of meth produced, five to seven pounds of chemical waste is left behind. Meth molecules can cling to walls and floors, accumulate in carpets and cabinets and penetrate materials like insulation and drywall, according to Glenn Morrison, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology. And they can be re-emitted for months or even years.
  
  Short-term exposure to these chemicals can lead to headaches, nausea, dizziness and fatigue. Over a long period, liver and kidney damage, neurological problems, and increased risk of cancer can occur, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

For the story, see My home was a former meth lab.

Pennsylvania Couple Falls Victim In Unwitting Purchase Of Home Once Used As Meth Lab

In Bristol, Pennsylvania, Wallet Pop reports:

• A few days after moving into a 109-year-old twin home in the blue collar Philadelphia suburb of Bristol. Pa., Robert Quigley got the shock of his life when he finally met one of his next-door neighbors when he was taking out the trash. The neighbor was happy to learn that Quigley and his girlfriend, Jennifer Friberg, were in the house instead of the previous resident -- a known hoodlum who had been arrested for making crystal methamphetamine.

• Suddenly, the $190,000, 4-bedroom home with the nice hardwood floors that the young couple had wanted to fix up and one day start a family in, had become an an albatross around their necks that still weighs them down. It still leaves the 31-year-old graphics designer dumbfounded, but did explain some strange things he experienced.

• "As soon as we moved in, we started to get headaches immediately," he told WalletPop in an interview, adding that he and Friberg attributed their health issues to the stress of moving into their first house. "Our symptoms kept getting worse the longer we stayed there."

For more, see Young couple's dream house turns into a meth nightmare.

For other stories relating to the unwitting purchase of homes once used as meth labs, see:

• Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue) (requires subscription; if no subscription TRY HERE),

• Lawyer Successfully Squeezes Settlement From Insurer For Client's Damage Claim From Unknown Meth Lab,

• Unwitting Buyer Of Home Used As Meth Lab Wins Lawsuit Against Broker, Seller; Court Orders Rescission, Damages, Attorney Fees,

• Wave Of Meth Lab Home Contamination Litigation On The Horizon?

• Ohio Woman Unwittingly Buys Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Sues Former Owner While Fighting Foreclosure; Fears Connection To Kids' Chronic Illnesses,

• Minnesota Couple Duped Into Buying Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Arbitration Award A "Pyrrhic" Victory, Lender May Wind Up Holding The Bag.

More On The "One Pot" aka "Shake & Bake" Method Of Making Meth

In Etowah County, Alabama, the Gadsden Times reports:

• More methamphetamine labs have popped up in Etowah County in recent weeks, and drug agents believe the increase is linked to a new cooking method. The "one-pot" or the "shake-and-bake" method is quicker and easier and is producing a more pure form of meth, said Scott Entrekin, spokesman for the Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit. [...] The method of cooking began appearing almost a year ago in some states and has spread to other areas, he said.The meth is cooked using one "pot," usually a 2-liter drink bottle. [...] "It's dangerous because it builds up pressure," Entrekin said. If the pressure isn't released periodically during the two to three hours it takes for the meth to cook, it can explode.

For more, see Meth labs return, new cooking method blamed.

For a related post on meth labs and the problems they cause in homes that once housed them, see The Invisible Legacy Left In Homes Used As Meth Labs.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta

Sheriff's Deputies Make Meth Bust In Home Facing Foreclosure; Tenant, Two Others Face Multiple Charges

In Cornville, Arizona, The Daily Courier reports:

• Yavapai County Sheriff's deputies arrested three people Sunday in Cornville on charges including possession of drug paraphernalia after they found methamphetamine, meth pipes and an improvised explosive device inside a home and a blue Chevy Blazer.

• Deputies answered a call about a burglary in progress at a home [...] that neighbors knew was in foreclosure, and found Susan Quade, 48, of Cornville, Tana Elliott, 31, of Glendale, and Craig Gast, 49, of Phoenix getting ready to leave in the Blazer. Deputies then took them into custody, said Dwight D'Evelyn, spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

• When deputies called the homeowner, they learned that Quade was renting the home. Deputies found several meth pipes inside the home, and Quade told them she and her friends were getting ready to use meth when deputies arrived, D'Evelyn said.(1)

For the story, see Deputies arrest three after finding meth, explosive device.

See also The Arizona Republic: 3 arrested in Cornville after deputies find meth, explosive device.

(1) Hopefully for the current owner (or a new owner if the house is foreclosed), any property damage to the home that may have resulted by meth contamination is minimal, thereby possibly minimizing the cost of the necessary decontamination. See San Francisco Chronicle: Homes once used as meth labs can leave an invisible legacy.

Go here for earlier posts on the lasting legacy left in homes due to the production or use of methamphetimine. meth lab

Hotel & Motel Rooms Now Being Used As Meth Labs?

The television program Inside Edition ran a story last week on the growing use of hotel and motel rooms to manufacture methamphetamine. An excerpt from the story:

• It's a danger that could be putting you and your family at risk. All across the country, cops say drug dealers are using some hotels and motel rooms to manufacture or "cook" methamphetamine. According to Sergeant Jim Gerhardt, of the Thornton, Colorado police department, near Denver, “It's probably worse now than ever.” [...] However, after drug dealers move on, the toxic chemical residue that results from cooking meth could potentially stay for years. The chemicals are so dangerous police wear full hazmat suits when they raid a meth lab.

***

• So how big of a problem is it? INSIDE EDITION tested six Denver area hotels and motels where cops had busted meth labs, some more than two years ago, and the results were disturbing. In one test INSIDE EDITION detected meth on the headboard of one of the beds. Five out of the six rooms tested had traces of meth. Three of them, including two at popular national chains, had levels above what many experts consider safe.

For more, see Was Your Hotel Room A Former Meth Lab?

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta

Tennessee Gets $1.1M In Fed Funds To Fight Meth

In Tennessee, The Murfreesboro Post reports:

• U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon has helped to secure $1.1 million in federal funding to help state and local officials fight methamphetamine production and abuse. “Strong state and federal laws are making an impact on meth production, but we still have too many meth labs in Tennessee,” said Gordon. “Last year, Tennessee had more meth lab seizures than all but four states. Law enforcement needs better ways to detect clandestine meth labs and more resources to educate the community about the dangers of meth abuse.”

For more, see Gordon secures $1.1 M to combat meth In Tennessee.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta

Home-Based Meth Labs A Threat To Health & Pocketbook

From the Rim Country of Central Arizona, The Payson Roundup reports:

• Health and law enforcement officials across the country are becoming increasingly alarmed at the number of homes being sold that were once used as meth houses or laboratories. The problem developing is that former homes where meth was either used or manufactured are in fact health hazards to anyone currently residing in them due to the residual poisons that were soaked into the walls, window treatments and flooring.(1)

***

• In 2005, nearly 17,000 homes were seized by authorities (many ending up in foreclosure) and unknown to those subsequently purchasing these homes, the families inhabiting them are exposed to the dangers of the toxic chemical waste left behind. While at this time there are no federal guidelines for cleanup of these materials, in 12 states (Arizona included), it is illegal to occupy a dwelling before it’s been decontaminated. However, in most states there are few protections in place.

• Fourteen states (including Arizona) require property owners to disclose if the property offered was a former drug house and 13 states (Arizona being one of them) have actually established a guideline for cleanup. The cost of cleaning and decontaminating a former meth lab is astronomical. It can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 to complete. Unfortunately, with no federal assistance in place, the price tag is up to the property owner to absorb.

• Right now there are literally tens of thousands of contaminated residences across the United States. Living in one of these former drug houses can very easily cause a family to face financial ruin between having to pay for any possible cleanup, developing health-related illnesses and having to throw away any personal possessions that can’t be cleaned. Add to that the cost of acquiring another residence and then moving. It is a nationwide nightmare.

For the story, see Meth houses need to be decontaminated.

In a related story, see The National Law Journal: Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue).

(1) Reportedly, for every pound of meth that is cooked in a home, five to seven pounds of chemical waste products are created. From this waste, a variety of long term health problems can occur including but not limited to: headaches, blisters, damaged lungs, liver or kidneys. meth lab yak

Orlando Cops Bust Local Woman Running Meth Lab Out Of Her Home

In Orlando, Florida, WFTV Channel 9 reports:

• Orlando police shut down a meth lab Friday. Cops described the operation as big and dangerous. The extensive operation was found in a residential neighborhood [in downtown Orlando]. Police said neighbors are lucky no one was hurt from the lab for two reasons. Firstly, it's a duplex and the fumes could have come through the ducts and affected the people who live next door. Second, police said, the lab easily could have exploded, putting the whole block at risk. [...] The next step is to call Code Enforcement. Investigators said the house is contaminated, but the state can't legally take control of it.

For more, see Meth Lab Bust Near Downtown Orlando Is City's Largest.

For WFTV Channel 9 video report, see Woman Arrested After Police Find Orlando Meth Lab.

For a post related to meth labs, generally, see Beware Of Homes Used As Indoor Pot Farms & Meth Labs.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs. meth lab zeta

Ohio Woman Unwittingly Buys Home Once Used As Meth Lab; Sues Former Owner While Fighting Foreclosure; Fears Connection To Kids' Chronic Illnesses

In Stow, Ohio, the Akron Beacon Journal reports:

• Her Stow home is frozen in time. The kids' clothes, their beds, the family photos, everything they own remains untouched, just as they left it almost a year ago.
  The exodus from her new home was swift. And it was not fueled by ghosts or lousy neighbors. Rather, it was the revelation of what was once inside her Meadowbrook Boulevard home and its potential relation to her children's chronic illnesses.

• Andrea Wagner has learned she is the owner of a former meth house, one of at least 143 tabulated by local health officials. The 26-year-old single mother of two is now in court fending off foreclosure efforts while at the same time fighting the man who sold her the home. Her lawsuit claims the former owner never revealed its methamphetamine production history.

For more, see Single mom is suing seller of meth house (Home was once drug lab; woman fears for kids' health, might be facing foreclosure).

For a related post on meth labs and the problems they cause in homes that once housed them, see The Invisible Legacy Left In Homes Used As Meth Labs.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

Go here and go here for other posts on home based meth labs.

Check the the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) National Clandestine Laboratory Register for (what the DEA admits to being) an incomplete list of possible locations of former neighborhood meth labs that have been reported to authorities. meth lab zeta

Wave Of Meth Lab Home Contamination Litigation On The Horizon?

The National Law Journal (appearing on law.com) reports:

• First it was toxic mold. Now it's meth residue. Property owners are battling a new breed of lawsuits, in which people who unwittingly bought homes that were once methamphetamine labs are suing over contaminated houses that are making them sick. The lawsuits are fallout from the massive federal crackdown on meth labs during the past decade, which saw more than 100,000 labs busted, leaving behind thousands of polluted homes and apartments for unsuspecting residents to fill.

***

• In Ohio, a single mother is suing the former owner of a drug house that she unknowingly bought [...]. Her children developed chronic respiratory problems, forcing her to vacate the house, lose most of her personal belongings and face foreclosure.

• In Washington state, a real estate company and property owners are currently appealing a court ruling that awarded $94,000 to a family that unknowingly bought a house that was a former meth lab. The family was forced to move and lost its personal belongings to contamination.

***

• Ohio attorney Warner Mendenhall, who is representing the single mother in the Ohio lawsuit, believes that a wave of meth contamination litigation is on the horizon. "In the city of Akron alone, there are hundreds of houses, apartments and hotel rooms that have been used as meth production labs, and I think there are tremendous dangers there," said Mendenhall of Akron, Ohio's The Law Offices of Warner Mendenhall.

For more, see Meth Lab Residue in Homes Triggers Litigation (Lawsuits over contaminated homes focus on failure to disclose issue) (requires subscription; if no subscription TRY HERE).

Go here and go here for other posts on home-based methamphetamine labs. meth lab yak

Failure To Inspect For Meth Contamination Could Create Future Financial, Health Havoc For Homebuyers

The New York Times reports:

• The spacious home where the newly wed Rhonda and Jason Holt began their family in 2005 was plagued by mysterious illnesses. The Holts’ three babies were ghostlike and listless, with breathing problems that called for respirators, repeated trips to the emergency room and, for the middle child, Anna, the heaviest dose of steroids a toddler can take. Ms. Holt, a nurse, developed migraines. She and her husband, a factory worker, had kidney ailments.(1)

• It was not until February, more than five years after they moved in, that the couple discovered the root of their troubles: their house, across the road from a cornfield in this town some 70 miles south of Nashville, was contaminated with high levels of methamphetamine left by the previous occupant, who had been dragged from the attic by the police. The Holts’ next realization was almost as devastating: it was up to them to spend the $30,000 or more that cleanup would require.

• With meth lab seizures on the rise nationally for the first time since 2003, similar cases are playing out in several states, drawing attention to the problem of meth contamination, which can permeate drywall, carpets, insulation and air ducts, causing respiratory ailments and other health problems.

***

• Meth contamination can bring financial ruin to families like that of Francisca Rodriguez. The family dog began having seizures nine days after the Rodriguezes moved into their home in Grapevine, Tex., near Dallas, and their 6-year-old son developed a breathing problem similar to asthma, said Ms. Rodriguez, 35, a stay-at-home mother of three. After learning from neighbors that the three-bedroom ranch-style home had been a known “drug house,” the family had it tested. The air ducts had meth levels more than 100 times higher than the most commonly cited limit beyond which cleanup is typically required. [...] They moved out, throwing away most of their possessions because they could not be cleaned, and are letting the house go into foreclosure. “It makes you crazy,” Ms. Rodriguez said. “Our credit is ruined, we won’t be able to buy another house, somebody exposed my kids to meth, and my dog died.”

For the story, see Illnesses Afflict Homes With a Criminal Past.

Go here, Go here and go here for other posts on home-based methamphetamine labs.

(1) Some of the health problems associated with living in a meth-contaminated home appear to be similar to those currently being attributed to the "Chinese drywall" problem being experienced in some parts of the country. meth lab yak