Some Former Meth Houses Sold Without Being Cleaned-DENVER (CBS4)

[fed-up]

glad to see this issue starting to get more and more coverage

http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/meth.labs.homes.2.716753.html
May 5, 2008 8:04 pm US/Mountain

Some Former Meth Houses Sold Without Being Cleaned
Written by Rick Sallinger, [e-mail]
Reporting
Rick Sallinger
DENVER (CBS4) ? Some Coloradans may be living in a home that once contained a drug lab and not even know it.

As part of a year-long investigation, CBS4 News has obtained, through open records requests, governmental lists of properties that contained methamphetamine labs that were never cleaned up.

CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger found people living in homes that may still be contaminated with meth. Governmental agencies failed to inform them, and unscrupulous homeowners sold the properties without warning the buyers.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of homes in Colorado that once housed meth labs. Sallinger approached a homeowner, Debbie Ward, in Jefferson County.


..snip

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Common practice, sadly enough

I have a friend who is renting a property that was used in that way. Even with extensive cleaning, she has lots of problems with breathing, etc.

[fed-up]

5. was she notified by her landlord of the property's status of being a former meth lab? nt

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Yes,

but he said that is why he's renting it so cheap.

[fed-up]

7. the damage to her health will cost more than what she saves in rent....is there no other housing

that she can move to???

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Apparently not

she's been looking. Problem is she wants her kids to attend a particular school district, and housing there is hard to come by.

[fed-up]

9. my kid's health would take priority over his education-but that's just me

What are the laws regarding former meth lab clean-up where she lives?

Was a meth lab busted there, or does the owner just suspect there was an active lab at one time.

Has she taken a can of laundry spray starch and sprayed the walls to see if they turn lavender or purple (which would indicate the presence of iodine which is used in the "Red Phosphorus" method of cooking meth. I don't know of a cheap test if the "Birch Method" was used.

Does she know what rooms have a greater likelyhood of having chemicals stored in them or having been used for cooking?

Ususally one must take down and dispose of the sheetrock in a haz-mat dump. Washing does NOT remove the contamination.

Is there an air conditioning system in the house? Were the ducts replaced?

Were there orangish/brownish rings in any of the sinks or bathtub which would indicate that the highly toxic waste products were disposed of there.

Is there any evidence of dead spots in the yard or discolored soil?

Are her kids playing in the yard? Does she have pets?

[lurky]

2. Between the toxic chemicals and the bits of actual meth

that may be lurking in the carpets and corners, definitely a bad place for children (adults too).

[High Plains]

3. Abbott Labs manages to make meth without many problems.

Maybe we should just let people buy the pharmaceutical stuff? It's called Desoxyn--prescription meth.

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/methamphetamine.htm

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

4. Inexcuseable!

Why not slather on lead paint, asbestos, and put mold in the ducting work without telling people!

[DS1]

10. Man. Ever since we moved the TV into this room, Family Guy is actually funny