By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
Methamphetamine isn’t just toxic to the brain, it’s toxic to the environment.
In 1989, the Snohomish Health District oversaw the cleanup of one methamphetamine lab. By 2001, that number had increased fortyfold, according to Jonelle Fenton Wallace, an environmental specialist with the district.
The dump sites, whether on a road, in a car, an apartment, a home, motel or a septic tank, are classified as hazardous waste sites by the state Department of Ecology .
“A lab in Monroe was in an underground room that had been dug out. When police entered they found a 150-pound commercial-size ammonia tank,” Fenton Wallace said.
The number of labs continues to increase, as well as the kinds of toxic chemicals meth “cooks” use to extract the ingredients needed to produce the illegal drug.
The chemicals that go into meth production are a laundry list of flammable solvents and poisonous toxins, Fenton Wallace said.
“You’ll find acetone xylene (paint remover), toluene (used in making explosives), denatured alcohol, kerosene, acid, lye and red phosphorus at these sites.”
And the cooks are not a cautious bunch.
“These solvents are flammable – sometimes these guys are smoking – there are lots of fires and explosions associated with meth.”
Thieves endanger the neighborhood when they tap into anhydrous ammonia storage tanks outside food-processing plants. Used in the meth-making process, the ammonia is a compressed, liquefied gas that can severely burn the skin and permanently damage the lungs. The gas also is explosive. Five gallons can blow up a house.
Thieves often siphon the ammonia into propane tanks, which aren’t designed to safely contain the gas. Ammonia is so corrosive it can dissolve the brass fittings on a propane bottle in a few weeks.
In recent months, however, Ecology Department cleanup crews have found that meth cooks have dispensed even with the modicum of safety offered by a propane bottle.
“The new thing is to store ammonia in Mason jars,” said Carl Andersen, spill responder with the Ecology Department.
The cooks also have added a new chemical to their deadly roster, hydrogen fluoride, which is used to etch glass, Andersen said.
“If you get some on your skin, it goes straight to the bone and your skin falls off.”
In 1989, the Legislature made private property owners responsible for the residue left behind by methamphetamine production. At the time, it was discovered that one of the methods used to produce meth left behind traces of mercury and lead – heavy metals that remain indefinitely, Fenton Wallace said. “They are neurological hazards that can impair brain functions in adults and, in particular, children.”
While police and Ecology Department crews clean up and dispose of the chemical stocks, private property owners are legally responsible for the next step in the cleanup, which can involve removing contaminated furniture and counter tops. Under the law, a landlord cannot rent a house or apartment again until it has been certified as clean by the local health district.
In 1999, the average cost of cleaning up a meth lab was $25,000. That same year, the state’s property owners chalked up $6 million in losses related to cleanup costs, according to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agency, a federal drug enforcement agency.
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
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