Toxic House...Find out before you buy

For each pound of methamphetamine (crank) produced in a home lab, six pounds of toxic waste is generated. Given that, wouldn't you want to know if that house for sale you've fallen in love with had previously been the site of a lab?

The Drug Enforcement Agency thinks so, and has created the National Clandestine Laboratory Register, a site which allows you to quickly look up houses in your state and county that have been identified as a meth lab. I'm pleased to see that the nearest lab to my home is over five miles away. Or perhaps I should be upset that a meth lab had been discovered only five miles from my home.

Meth is the most abused drug, after alcohol and marijuana, in the U.S. It is highly addictive and destructive. The byproducts of home-cooked meth include acids, bases, metal, solvents and salts. We've become accustomed to stories about labs blowing up, but more subtle long-term consequences can result from the vapors from reside soaked into house timbers and woodwork, or hiding in plumbing, or in the dirt of backyards used as dumping grounds. I'd also be concerned about users coming around looking to score some crank, unaware that the house is was no longer a doper's palace.

A meth lab cleanup costs around $2,500 on average to clean up, but could range up to four times that amount for serious pollution. Given that cost, I'd be concerned that shortcuts might have been taken in the cleanup, to save money.

If you're shopping for a home, I'd suggest taking a moment to check the register, and bring in professional help to evaluate any property appearing on the list for which you have an interest.

Jay said...

Regarding the meth lab article, the national register does not represent all meth labs in the country. The national statistics say that only one in ten labs is busted! in some states they estimate that only one in thirty is busted! The national register shows about 120,000, and not all law enforcement reports to EPIC (el paso inteligence center) who compiles that list. So, do the math! Your best bet is to have the property assessed and sampled by a trained, certified person who knows the specifics of this very unique industry. Oh, by the way, smoking meth in a home will also contaminate it as well! There are now over twenty states the have reulations regarding the secondary decontamination of former meth labs, and many are addressing the use homes as well.

Visit www.methlabcleanup.com for the links to all of the regulations and disclosure laws currently recognised in the country. just click on the state guide button on the home page.

7-23-2008 @ 9:09AM

Ro said...

This might be of some use if the database was updated. As it is, the last update seems to be September 2007. (I checked 5 states to see.)

Just another piece of outdated information in a new article, it seems.

7-23-2008 @ 9:55AM

Jamie said...

I had a 24 hour drive so I figured I would find a hotel on the way instead of booking one HUGE MISTAKE.I got to my room and it was scuzzy anyways and it smelled like cat pee I sleep maybe 3 hours I couldn't stand it We left and I was telling everyone about the skank motel we stayed in and that someone had a freaking cat there that was spraying and they was like did you know METH smells like cat pee!!! I was so freaked out here I was praying I didnt catch herpes crabs lice bedbugs and I left out God please dont let us die in a fiery toxic blast. So please MAKE RESERVASIONS its for your own good.