Bill sets meth cleanup rules
BOISE – Legislation that Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and real estate agents say will go a long way toward ridding Idaho of its methamphetamine lab-cleanup problem is close to reaching final approval.
SB 1122 would set up standards for drug-lab cleanup in the state and free property owners from liability for health-based lawsuits if they meet the standards – something proponents contend is needed, especially in North Idaho.
“Right now, the standard is whatever an owner chooses to do,” said John Eaton, government affairs director for the Idaho Association of Realtors, one of the supporters of the bill. “You can expect they’re cleaning it up, and they probably are most of the time, but you don’t know.”
The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill last week. It has passed the Senate and is a priority for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne this year. Washington, Oregon and Alaska are among many states that have similar measures in place.
Tom Torgerson, a Realtor at Century 21 Beutler & Associates in Coeur d’Alene, said more and more property owners are finding themselves with homes that have been used as labs for cooking meth. After a bust, health workers brought in by state police come in to pick up chemical drums and cooking utensils, but it’s up to the owner to clean up poisonous residue left on walls, cabinets and ventilation systems.
Backers of the legislation say the need for a set of standards is even more pressing in the Panhandle. Kootenai County has been home to a third of all meth lab seizures since 1999 in Idaho. Ada County, the state’s most populous, has had 84 seizures in that time while Kootenai County has had 234, according to Eaton.
“Unfortunately, it’s a huge problem here,” said Torgerson, who worked on support for the legislation. “That’s why this bill is so important – it protects the public and the property owner.”
The bill gives authority to the state Department of Health and Welfare to create the regulations and a process for cleaning up clandestine labs. The department also would set up a tracking system in which exposed property can be added or removed from a statewide list. If a property meets the standards, the owner would have no liability for potential health-based claims. But until the regulations are met, the home or building must be left vacant.
“The bill is consumer-friendly,” Hayden Lake GOP Rep. Jim Clark said. “Everybody thinks owners of these homes are dealers, but they just own the property.”
Although the standards are yet to be set up, Eaton said they would mirror what Colorado has implemented. The regulations there include airing out a property, replacing ventilation systems, toilets and sinks as well as bathtubs, and washing all surfaces with a detergent-based cleaner.
The Legislature would have to approve the standards next year, after Health and Welfare and IAR develop a proposed set.