Crystal, crank, chalk, glass, ice, speed, zip. Whatever you call it, the illegal street drug formally known as methamphetamine, or simply meth, has rapidly become a national menace, causing more drug-related, local law enforcement issues than cocaine, marijuana and heroin combined, according to a survey conducted last year by the National Association of Counties. Inexpensive and easy to produce, thanks in part to recipes posted on the Internet, this highly addictive and profitable drug—$100 in supplies makes about $1,000 worth of white powder, pills or crystals—gives the user a rush of pleasure as well as increased energy, self-confidence, and feelings of desirability. The high lasts 8 to 24 hours. Addiction is quick.

After their first experience with meth, users require more and more of the drug to obtain the high they’re after. Whether they snort, smoke, ingest, or inhale it, the physical and psychological damage is great. Over time, meth robs users of their health, mental abilities and, by desensitizing brain receptors, their ability to experience pleasure. Nasal bleeding, blood pressure spikes, hot flashes, nausea, itchy skin, sores, numbness in hands and feet, mood swings, convulsions, prenatal complications, congenital deformities, exhaustion once the high wears off, and, eventually, organ damage are common side-effects. Fatalities are not unusual.

Meth use is also associated with increased incidents of burglaries, domestic violence and child neglect, along with increased demands for social and medical services.

Nationally, while meth is robbing users of their looks, health and cognitive abilities, the byproducts of the drug’s production are quickly and quietly ravaging our environment.

Meth Labs Are a Growing National Menace
Highly toxic, meth is produced in illegal, makeshift laboratories using common household items such as plastic tubing, mason jars, propane tanks, ammonia, coffee filters, and hydrogen peroxide. The most common chemicals used to start the meth-making process are found in over-the-counter cold and asthma medications which contain stimulants such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. Fuel additives and drain cleaners are commonly added. Myriad meth recipes abound, but every production process involves chemicals and vapors that are extremely harmful. Some of these substances are dangerous, even lethal, when they come in contact with skin or are inhaled; others react violently when heated, mixed, submerged, or exposed to air. Easily portable, meth labs have been found in homes, apartments, garages, outbuildings, campers, hotel rooms, and even cars.

Although the majority of meth sold in the United States is produced in Mexico and California, there has been a steady increase of clandestine drug labs, or CDLs, in the U.S. Illegal meth labs first appeared in the western parts of the country in the 1990s, particularly in Oregon, Washington and California. Since then, they have crept steadily eastward, prompting the National Association of Counties to describe the trend as “epidemic … affecting urban, suburban and rural communities nationwide.”

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 1999 there were 7,438 meth lab incidents reported across the country. In 2004, that number more than doubled to 17,170. Close to 50,000 labs have been seized over the last decade. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Admini-stration says that CDLs have been found in every state over the past five years, and the National Clandestine Laboratory Database reported 12,484 meth incidents, including the seizures of labs, dumpsites, and chem-icals, glass and equipment, in 2005.

The Risks
Meth production is leaving in its wake a growing list of highly-contaminated properties, dubbed ‘mini-Superfund sites’ by one senior advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. For every pound of methamphetamine produced, approximately six pounds of hazardous wastes are generated. Toxic byproducts and chemicals from the meth-making process are often disposed of in household drains and wells, streams, rivers, fields, sewage systems, or directly into the soil, where they can remain for years, posing a long-term environmental hazard. The risk of explosion is great. Meth production also creates potentially harmful chemical residues that can remain on surfaces like floors, countertops, carpets and drapes, and in sinks, drains and ventilation systems for years after production ceases, causing a dangerous situation for residents.

People exposed to the chemicals used to create meth, particularly meth “cooks” and first responders, such as police and fire personnel, can suffer various health effects before, during and after drug production. Short-term exposure alone can result in fatigue, headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain and dizziness, a lack of coordination, chemical irritation, and burns. (Hospital burn units are routinely overwhelmed with patients who have been burned as a result of meth production; these people are often uninsured.) Post-exposure symptoms typically resolve within several hours, although if the person is in a weakened condition or the chemical is toxic enough, it can be lethal. Long-term exposure, even at low levels, is more severe, and may result in kidney or liver damage, neurological problems and an increased rate of cancer. For this reason, each former meth lab or dumping ground must be treated as a potential hazardous waste site and cleaned up accordingly.

Meth and the Brownfields Program
The growing meth problem does not end with law enforcement. Leftover materials and residues from the drug’s production pose a very real environmental risk to commercial property owners. In fact, the burden of remediation usually falls to the owner, due primarily to the fact that, according to the Washington Department of Health, half of meth drug labs are found on rental properties. These sites are often left abandoned, leaving the owner liable for decontamination costs. The DEA estimates that it costs approximately $3,000 to $4,000 to clean up a former “small-time” meth lab; larger sites can cost six figures. Additional costs that the property owner might incur include civil penalties, property damage, decline in property value, loss of cash flow if the building is shut down, and potential loss of valued tenants. The few options available to the property owner are, either shell out thousands of dollars for cleanup or face liability that can cost significantly more.

Real estate agents are affected too. By law, they must disclose whether a residence they are selling or renting was a CDL.

Last year, Congress passed anti-meth legislation via the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 (CMEA), which was signed into law on March 9, 2006, and limited the sale of cold medications containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine. Despite various efforts to combat meth abuse and CDLs—through a growing grassroots effort, children are now educated about the dangers of meth via graphic stories and videos of meth abusers—the problem is still widespread. For this reason, Congress has made CDLs eligible for brownfield funding.

Although EPA cautions that brownfield redevelopment is not the primary solution to the CDL issue, the agency says stakeholders may find the funding and technical assistance offered by the Brownfields Program beneficial. According to EPA, funding and assistance opportunities for CDLs include:

• Assessment Grants: Fund a variety of pre-cleanup environmental activities, such as site assessment, inventory, characterization, prioritization, community outreach, and cleanup planning and design.
• Cleanup Grants: Fund the cleanup of brownfield sites.
•   Revolving Loan Fund Grants: Used to help establish state or locally administered loan funds.
• Job Training Grants: Designed to help unemployed/underemployed local residents take advantage of jobs created by the assessment/ cleanup of brownfield sites.
• Targeted Brownfield Assessments: Provide funding and technical assistance for environmental assessments at brownfield sites.
• State and Tribal Response Program (Section 128): This non-competitive grant source is available to establish and enhance response programs.

Meth Lab Cleanup: A Challenge for Environmental Professionals
As the number of meth labs raided by enforcement officials continues to grow, regulatory agencies are faced with cleaning up the toxic mess left behind. However, data on meth-related contaminants is limited, and federal cleanup standards are non-existent. Further complicating matters is the fact that there are no widely-accepted procedures for the sampling and analysis of meth-related contaminants.

Absent federal guidelines, there are general steps cleanup professionals do take with CDLs. After a meth lab has been discovered and the criminal investigation completed, the site is aired out for several days to allow chemicals to disperse.

Next, residual materials are removed and disposed of or incinerated. Surfaces, as well as plumbing and ventilation systems, are cleaned. Post-cleanup samples are taken to assess levels of residual contamination, and a report is provided to the property owner.

Any property associated with an enforcement action related to former meth lab activity also has the potential for environmental contamination. Chemical waste is typically dumped on the ground or down drains, which contaminates drain fields, soils and surface waters. But if a state drug enforcement agency undertakes action of a site identified as a CDL, the agency will dispose of chemicals and byproducts at the property, but may not address environmental issues such as potential groundwater contamination, leftover chemical residue and toxic fumes that linger long after the lab has been shut down.

Contaminated soil and water should be remediated before anyone is allowed to rent or occupy the structure. In many cases, cleanup costs exceed the value of the building. What’s more, because criminal activities have been perpetrated on the property, insurance typically doesn’t cover the cost. (See sidebar below, “Cleaning Up a Meth Lab.”)

Meth Lab Regulation
Given the host of environmental problems surrounding CDLs, regulators are taking notice. The dramatic increase in meth labs and the associated health and environmental risks are spurring state agencies across the U.S. to develop regulations that protect the public from meth lab residue, including efforts to force property owners to clean up former residential meth sites or disclose past meth lab use during a commercial real estate transaction.

Several states have voluntary guidelines for meth lab cleanup, and a handful of state legislatures have begun debating new requirements for cleanup standards and databases to alert the public that a property was the site of a former meth lab. For example:

• Colorado passed a law that requires property owners to hire professionals with specialized equipment for meth lab remediation.
• Washington requires owners to ensure that no more than five micrograms of meth residue per square foot remain within a structure.
• The Georgia General Assembly formed a committee to study meth lab contamination and cleanup standards.
• Yellowstone County, Montana, requires that former meth labs be noted as such on building deeds.

Meth labs also garnered attention at the federal level. In March 2005, the National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC) and the National Apartment Association (NAA) called on Congress to develop mandatory remediation standards for cleaning up CDLs, arguing that in the absence of science-based cleanup standards, property owners risk being held liable for cleaning up residual contamination. A proposed federal rule, the Methamphetamine Remediation Research Act of 2005 (H.R. 798), set out to authorize a federal research program to examine the health effects from chemicals used in the production of meth and establish voluntary guidelines to assist local governments with CDL cleanup. While the bill never became law, many experts agree a federal standard for methamphetamine is needed.

As regulators increasingly crack down on illegal drug production, records on properties tainted by toxic materials related to meth lab operations are becoming more numerous. Over 20 states maintain CDL records, according to one national environmental information firm. There is also a federal database.

Often, if a regulatory agency seizes a lab, it will notify the local health department as well as the county’s clerk of courts office, which will then attach notices to the affected property’s records. In Georgia, for example, the DEA’s subcontractor is called in to remove the materials, and then state or local health officials notify property owners of their responsibility to decontaminate the property. Environmental professionals should be aware of the risks posed by CDL-related contamination and the growing number of records available on these properties.

Lauren Howard is a research analyst in EDR’s Market Research Group in Milford, Conn. www.edrnet.com