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Monday, November 30, 2009

Ind. Law - More on "Grappling with Meth in Elkhart County"

Updating yesterday's ILB entry highlighting the five-part series, today's part 2 story, reported by Emily Monacelli, is headed "Grappling With Meth: Local landlords, property owners foot the bill for cleanup." Some quotes from the long story:

When local police find what they believe is a meth lab, they call the Indiana State Police's clandestine lab team to remove the chemicals, which they usually find in a jar or bottle. The county health department posts the property unfit for human habitation and gives the homeowner a list of qualified inspectors. The homeowner does not have a time limit in which they must clean the property, but it must pass testing with minimal residue before people can live there again. Exposure to meth making chemicals can cause resipratory problems, dizziness, headaches, confusion and nausea, according to officials with the Elkhart County Health Department.

In Elkhart County, 35 buildings that formerly contained meth labs still have not been cleaned and deemed fit for occupation, according to records kept by the Elkhart County Health Department and obtained by The Elkhart Truth. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management mandated counties start monitoring meth lab sites in 2007. Of those sites in Elkhart County that hven't been cleaned, 33 were houses or apartments. One was an empty commercial building. One was a car repair shop that's been out of business since the bust there in 2008.

Since 2007, 40 sites -- mostly houses -- that formerly contained meth labs have been cleaned by homeowners, including Simpson's land.

"We were responsible, you know, my land," Simpson said. "We were responsible for getting it cleaned up. Between my son and me it was $5,000 or $6,000 to get it cleaned up. That's why I'm kind of taking my time on the second one. Money only goes so far. I'm on a fixed income."

Once a health department employee notifies the homeowner of the meth lab, the health department has no further means of enforcement, according to Tara Still, an environmentalist with the health department.

"It's up to the property owner on how quickly or how slowly or if anything gets done at all," Still said. "The property can sit vacant indefinitely."

And they do, especially if the property owner doesn't have the $10,000 to $30,000 it takes to clean a house, as estimated by the health department.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 30, 2009 09:27 AM
Posted to Indiana Law