The aftermath of meth labs

Like many landlords, Ralph Hanger has a story of a tenant from hell. But his doesn't involve late rent payments, stained carpets or destructive pets.

Hanger's tenants, a middle-aged couple, liked to cook. But what they were cooking was methamphetamine.

And unlike most landlord problems, Hanger's real trouble began after the tenants had left.

The residue left behind by the caustic cocktail of chemicals used to produce methamphetamine had permeated every surface in Hanger's rental home in Burlington, Skagit County. Cleaning up the home, required by the state Department of Health, meant the structure had to be stripped to its plasterboard and bare floors, and all of its contents carted off and dumped in two huge garbage bins.

The cleanup cost $38,000.

Hanger, a 67-year-old restaurant owner, learned from his costly brush with meth. He now runs criminal-background checks on all potential renters. He also demands that they don't use drugs on his property.

Hanger is among a growing number of landlords who have found themselves facing huge cleanup bills after someone used their properties to manufacture methamphetamine. If unsafe levels of chemical residues are left behind, the state will require property owners to conduct thorough cleanings, often including sterilization of all exposed surfaces.

In Snohomish County, where drug-lab busts are increasing every year, business is booming for companies that specialize in cleaning homes and vehicles where methamphetamine has been made.

Jonelle Fenton-Wallace, an environmental-health specialist for the Snohomish Health District, said more than 75 percent of all homes used to produce meth are deemed contaminated by the chemical residues of the drug-making process.

Fenton-Wallace said the high levels of chemicals that burrow into the walls, carpets and furniture almost always exceed the standards set by state health officials. In addition to houses, Fenton-Wallace said she's seen cars, trailers, motel rooms and storage units contaminated by meth production.

If a landlord refuses to clean his property, Snohomish County health officials have the option of taking him to court. So far, they've not had to take this step, Fenton-Wallace said.

BioClean, Ausclean Technologies and other companies licensed to clean up clandestine meth labs charge $4,000 to $20,000 to meet the state's standards.

Meth manufacturing has helped Theresa Borst and Stacy Haney transform BioClean from a small Marysville housecleaning business into a prosperous statewide corporation.

After receiving some encouragement from a local police officer, Borst traded her vacuum cleaner and feather duster for latex gloves and bleach. She and Haney started a company specializing in cleaning up crime scenes.

But "not enough people were dying," Borst said, and there wasn't enough business to keep her company going. So in 2000, she and Haney added meth-lab cleanups to their roster of services.

It was also during that time that law-enforcement agencies throughout the Puget Sound area saw meth use skyrocket. In counties such as Snohomish, Pierce and King, scores of homes, often in the middle of quiet residential neighborhoods, were being used as clandestine drug labs.

BioClean has been busy ever since.

Borst, Haney and three of their employees are state-licensed to don special suits, respirators, goggles, booties and gloves to enter areas contaminated by methamphetamine. Since Jan. 1, they've cleaned up 12 former meth labs across the state.

Ausclean Technologies, based in Kirkland, has cleaned four during the same time.

'It's very good money'

With the success of companies such as BioClean, Daryl Ferguson, who owns a company specializing in crime-scene cleanup and residential carpet cleaning, said he's working to get licensed for meth-lab cleanup.

"It's very good money," Ferguson said. "You work 12 to 15 weeks out of the year, and you make the same amount of money that a big executive at Microsoft makes."

The substances used to make meth include lye, muriatic acid, acetone, red phosphorous, drain opener, driveway cleaner and paint thinner.

"The residue from the meth, the cooking process and the meth, is very carcinogenic," Borst said. "That's why they (health authorities) won't let anything stay" in a contaminated house.

Short-term effects of exposure to this collection of chemicals can include burns and neurological damage. Long-term health hazards for people remaining in a closed-down meth lab include cancer, birth defects, and brain, kidney and liver damage.

"We're really glorified garbage haulers," said Ross Wigney, president of Ausclean Technologies. "Sometimes we have (garbage) dump bills for a two-bedroom house from $400 to $700."

Companies licensed to clean up meth labs must take water and soil samples from homes that use well water or septic tanks to determine whether the residue has spread outside the home. For homes that operate on city water, cleanup crews look for spillage.

'Everything's got to go'

Once the cleanup companies go inside the home, everything — from furniture to food, carpeting to wallpaper, clothing to photographs, kitchen appliances to alarm clocks, power tools and stereos — must be thrown out.

Borst typically tells the landlord of a home that had been used for meth production: "You have just had a fire, and everything's got to go." The effect of the process on the floors, surfaces and everything inside such a home is virtually the same as if a fire had raced through.

Borst said meth-lab contents are put into thick biohazard bins, which are padlocked so former residents can't try to reclaim their belongings. The bins are eventually buried at a landfill.

Once a former meth home is stripped to its foundation, cleaning companies use machines to rid the former laboratory of fumes for about two days. Power is shut off to the house so crews won't be in danger of electrical shock while the inside of the home is pressure washed several times. Air blowers are used to dry the home.

If the house has a septic system or operates on well water, another round of water and soil samples is taken to ensure that the level of remaining methamphetamine falls below the amount health officials have deemed hazardous.

Carolyn Comeau, a state public-health adviser, said toxicology tests have determined that no more than a 0.1 microgram of methamphetamine per 100 square centimeters is a good measurement to ensure public safety.

A microgram is one millionth of a gram. A packet of Equal, for instance, contains one gram of the sugar substitute.

Fenton-Wallace said the micrograms of methamphetamine typically found in a laboratory can vary. She said heavier concentrations of the toxic drug are more common in longtime meth-production sites or in places where the drug has been smoked.

Though both Washington and Oregon have laws demanding that meth labs be cleaned up, only Washington has specific guidelines on how much drug residue can be left before a house is deemed safe, Comeau said.

Ferguson said Washington's requirement that all labs must be cleaned by a certified company has caused some landlords to ignore the law. He said he's ended up calling police on several occasions when he has entered a house to clean the carpets only to suffer a painful sensation in the back of his throat — a sensation he blames on some of the toxic chemicals used in meth production.

"They're very reluctant to turn it over to authorities because it makes their property vulnerable to being condemned," said Ferguson, who owns A Trauma Scene BioClean, based in Snohomish.

"They don't want to spend $10,000 on a cleanup. It comes down to money."

Borst and Wigney said their services end once the house is cleaned. A landlord or homeowner is left to rebuild from the plasterboard and bare floors.

Borst said most homeowners' insurance policies have paid for her company's services. But Wigney said only a handful of the houses his company has cleaned have had the services paid for by insurance.

Hanger said that when he learned his house had been used for meth production, his insurance company refused to pay for the cleaning. But days later, company officials called back to say they would pay for BioClean's work and for a contractor to rebuild the house.

"Owner beware, because once you rent to these jokers they have all of the rights," said Hanger, referring to a law that requires landlords to give their tenants a 24-hour notice before they enter a rental home.

"I've rented property for 30 years, and I've never had one of these."

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com