The Problem of Meth Contamination

The connection between blighted or rundown housing and the negative impact on the community has long been a concern of county and city governments, particularly as it relates to crime. Jefferson County Commissioners are now focused on a direct impact that crime and housing has on its citizens: methamphetamine contamination in houses where the illegal drug was manufactured or used.According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), “Contamination of residential homes with methamphetamine is an emerging issue of significant concern to public health. Cooking or smoking methamphetamine in a residential property contaminates the house, furnishings and personal possessions within it, with subsequent exposure through ingestion, dermal absorption and/or inhalation causing adverse health effects.”The topic has been discussed at numerous Jefferson County Commissioners meetings this year and County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock held a briefing for NACO (Nebraska Association of County Officials) on the subject in Holdredge earlier this month.Commissioners met with Fairbury City Administrator Robert Messbarger on Tuesday, October 5. Schoenrock said, “So we're very serious about it. And you know, the preponderance of those properties are within the city limits. And so we want to do all we can to get that addressed, to stop that chain that's going on right now. There's meth use in the house, somebody moves out, and then the landlord just puts somebody else right back in there again, and that's just totally unhealthy.”Messbarger said, “If we can really kind of set something in stone and get a good partnership, I think that would be beneficial for both of us where we just have, you know, a set policy or set joint agreement on how we kind of go about that.”“There has been a lot of research done about the near term and long term health effects, primarily for young boys and girls that are in that kind of environment,” Schoenrock said. “It causes so many problems, to sickness, illness, to school attendance, getting in trouble, the law. I mean, it's just a whole bunch of things and spin off from that. So we think that if we can address this issue, that we're going to be able to address a lot of other issues that go along with it.”Possible legislation that would set requirements for decontaminating houses that test positive for methamphetamine is being considered. Schoenrock said, “Right now we have a draft legislative bill.”Schoenrock has been in touch with Senator Tom Brandt (District 32) regarding such legislation, armed with research done by Jefferson County Diversion Services Director Peggy Galloway, who is also involved with creating a task force to address the problem.“We're on a good trajectory to get this turned around. I'm getting more and more people on the task force,” said Galloway. “People just aren't aware, because they'd have no idea that this residue that's left just from smoking, meth, how it affects these kids.”Galloway said, “Nebraska actually has one of the strictest guidelines as far as closing it (a contaminated property) off, which is good. I think the other states will follow suit. You know, there's 26 states that have laws on the books and try to enforce it. And then, until you have public knowledge that it's even a problem, people don't even know what to look for.”The NCBI has noted, “There is also no international standard protocol for measuring levels of contamination and research has shown that different materials give rise to different recovery rates of methamphetamine. There are a number of currently used remediation methods; however, they have varying levels of success with limited studies comparing their long-term efficacies. Most importantly, there are few guidelines available that are based on a transparent, health risk-based approach, and there are many uncertainties on exposures and health effects, making it difficult to ensure the health of people residing in homes that have been used to cook or smoke methamphetamine are sufficiently protected.”There is a problem of resources. Schoenrock noted any regulations regarding inspections and testing of houses for methamphetamine and the enforcement of any rules to decontaminate would likely become the responsibility of local health districts. Schoenrock sits on the Board of Public Health Solutions (PHS) district, which included Jefferson, Thayer, Saline, Gage and Fillmore counties.Schoenrock said, “Right now, we don't have the resources either within our department or within any of the other eight other district health departments around the state of Nebraska, we don't have the resources to do what Peggy was just talking about, to actually go out and check, test, enforce, etc. So that's one of the things that, longer term, we're going to be working on because there has to be an enforcement mechanism.”Commissioner Gale Pohlmann said, “There will be probably a little bit of a fiscal note that will have to be added (to the legislative bill) so that we do have inspectors. I think that is key. Because if we don't have a way to inspect, enforce, test, we're blowing in the wind.”If the legislation proposed holds landlords accountable for testing and decontaminating houses with methamphetamine residue, Pohlmann predicted, “Landlords are gonna fight that thing, you know.”In 2020, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that the cost of cleaning up residue left behind by tenants who used or manufactured methamphetamine in a rental home was excluded from coverage by one landlord’s insurer because that policy excluded damages caused by contaminants or pollutants.Schoenrock provided an update to Commissioners on October 12, “We've already got the draft language from Senator Brandt's office.”Schoenrock provided that draft to the attorney with NACO who coordinates on legislative affairs, “The whole intent is to have this become a legislative priority for NACO for the next year. It will carry a lot of additional weight in the legislature. And we're, right now, we're still not certain if we're going to be able to achieve all the objectives legislatively in the next session. More probably what's going to happen is that we'll be able to address it in the January 2023 session.”

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