Memo- Drug Lab Cleanup
~Memomndum
To: Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council
CC: Rick Getschow, City Manager
From: Chief Craig A. Reid
Date: 2/1 7/2005
Re: Work session on Drug Lab Cleanup
Clandestine drug laboratories are being discovered in many 'areas of Minnesota,
including cities in the metro area, In January 2005 the production materials from a
mobile lab were discovered in a vehicle in Hopkins. Narcotic cases in Hopkins
almost doubled in 2004 over cases reported in 2003, The production and use of
methamphetamine is increasing,
The manufacturing process of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs require the
use oflarge quantities of metals, acids and solvents - all of which are readily
available, but are also dangerous when used in the chemical process. The
manufacturing process is dangerous and may result in fires or explosions,
Clandestine labs often contaminate residential property, apartments, storage
facilities or commercial buildings where they are set up with hazardous materials
and waste products. The Minnesota Department of Health has warned that exposure
to meth lab chemicals or by-products has the potential to cause both long and short-
term health effects including liver damage, kidney damage, neurological problems
and increased risk of cancer, I seek to establish a city ordinance based on statutory
authority to insure the safety of first responders or law enforcement to a lab site, the
procedure for declaring a site as a public health nuisance, the authority to remove the
public from a contaminated area, and a set of assessment and cleanup procedures to
be followed. This ordinance also establishes the responsibility for site assessment
and cleanup on the property owner.
The Police Department has worked with Building Official Rick Davidson, to
develop language and procedures that will allow the city staff to work together to
resolve the public health nuisance as quickly as possible,' The City of Hopkins staff
does not have experience or training to conduct work on this type of site alone. It is
expected that outside environmental firms will have to be retained to conduct formal
assessment and cleanup, Through this ordinance the City will be able to assure the
contractors that they have the authority to assess the cost of cleanup, if necessary.
February 17, 2005
Key points for discussion of the proposed ordinance:
. Police Officers will have authority under the ordinance to declare a possible
lab site as a health hazard, post temporary notice and order any peoples in the
contaminated area to vacate immediately,
. Within 48 hours of initial notice, the Building Official will notify affected
parties, post the formal notice of a public health nuisance, and begin steps to
assess the site and arrange for removal of any hazardous material.
. The property owner is responsible for the costs of assessment and cleanup of
clandestine drug lab sites. If the property owner does not respond to
notification of a health hazard the City has authority to proceed with a site
assessment and cleanup, Under the proposed ordinance the City may assess
the property owner for all assessment, cleanup and other costs plus an
additional 25% of total costs for administration of the abatement.
. Persons who violate any provision of the proposed ordinance would be guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, would be subject to penalties set
forth in Minnesota Statutes 609.02 (Subdivision 3).
. Chief Reid is scheduled to meet with the Hopkins Apartment Managers
Association on April 20 to discuss this proposal and report on crime
activities in Hopkins.
2
Hopkins City Code
625.00
Section 625: Cleanup of Clandestine Drue: Lab Sites and Chemical Dump Sites
(Ordinance #2005-943)
625.01. General Provisions. Subd 1. Purpose and Intent. The purpose of this section is
to reduce public exposure to health risks where law enforcement officers have determined
that hazardous chemicals or residue from a suspected clandestine drug lab site or
chemical dump site may exist. Professional reports, based on assessments, testing and
investigations, show that chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs can condense,
penetrate, and contaminate surfaces, furnishings, and equipment of surrounding
structures. The City Council finds that such sites, and the personal property within such
sites, may contain suspected chemicals and residues that place people, particularly
children or adults of child bearing age, at risk when exposed through inhabiting or
visiting the site or using or being exposed to contaminated personal property,
Subd, 2. Interpretation and Application. In the interpretation and application of
this section, the provisions herein shall be construed to protect the public health, safety
and welfare. Where the conditions imposed by any provision of this section are either
more or less restrictive to the public than comparable provisions imposed by any other
law, ordinance, statute, or regulation of any kind, the regulations which are more
restrictive or which impose higher standards or requirements on the public shall prevail.
Should any court of competent jurisdiction declare any section or subpart of this section
to be invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the section as a whole or any
part thereof, other than the provision declared invalid,
625.03 Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms or words shall
be interpreted as follows:
Subd, 1. Building Official: The Building Official for the City of Hopkins or
his/her duly authorized representative(s).
Subd. 2, Chemical Dump Site: Shall mean any place or area where chemicals or
other waste materials used in a clandestine drug lab operation have been located,
Subd.3, City: Shall mean the City of Hopkins.
Subd. 4, Clandestine Drug Lab Operation: Shall mean the unlawful manufacture
or attempt to manufacture a controlled substance,
Subd,5. Clandestine Drug Lab Site: Shall mean any place or area where law
enforcement has determined that conditions associated with an unlawful clandestine drug
lab operation exist or existed. A clandestine drug lab site may include dwellings,
accessory buildings, structures or units, chemical sites, vehicles, boats, trailers or other
appliances or any other area or locations.
Subd. 6. Controlled Substance: Shall mean any drug, substance or immediate
precursor in Schedules I through V of Minnesota Statute ~152,02 together with any
amendments or modifications thereto. The term shall not include distilled spirits, wine,
malt beverages, intoxicating liquors or tobacco,
Subd. 7. Household Hazardous Waste: Shall mean waste generated from a
clandestine drug lab operation.
Subd. 8. Site: Shall mean chemical dump site and/or clandestine drug lab site.
Subd.9, Manufacture: In places other than a pharmacy, shall mean and include
the production, cultivation, quality control, and standardization, by mechanical, physical,
chemical or pharmaceutical means, and the packing, repacking, tableting, encapsulating,
labeling, relabeling, or filling of drugs.
Subd 10. Owner: Shall mean any person(s), firm(s), corporation(s) or other
entity who or which owns, in whole or in part, the land, building, structure, vehicle, boat,
trailer or other location associated with a clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site.
625.05. Declaration of Site as a Public Health Nuisance. All dwellings, accessory
structures, buildings, vehicles, boats, trailers, personal property, adjacent property or
other locations, associated with a clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site are
potentially unsafe due to health hazards and are hereby declared to be a public health
nmsance.
625.07. Law Enforcement Action. Iflaw enforcement authorities determine the existence
of a clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site, the site, and all personal property
therein, shall be declared a public health nuisance. Law enforcement authorities who
identify conditions associated with a clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site
which may place neighbors, the visiting public, or present and future occupants of the site
at risk for exposure to harmful contaminants and other associated conditions are
authorized to take the following action:
a) Promptly notify the Building Official, child protection, public health authorities
and the appropriate enforcement division of the Drug Enforcement
Administration ofthe U.S. Justice Department of the location of the site, and the
owner ifknown, of the conditions found;
b) Treat, store, transport or dispose of all household hazardous waste found at the
site in a manner consistent with Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota
Pollution Control, and Hennepin County Health Department rules and regulations;
c) Issue a temporary Declaration of Public Health Nuisance for the affected site and
post a copy of the declaration on all doorway entrances to the site or, in the case
of bare land, post the declaration in several conspicuous places on the property.
This temporary Declaration of Public Health Nuisance issued by law enforcement
shall expire after the Building Official inspects the site and determines the
appropriateness of i'Ssuing a permanent Declaration of Public Health Nuisance;
d) Notify all persons occupying the site that a temporary Declaration of Public
Health Nuisance has been issued;
e) Require all persons occupying the site to immediately vacate the site, remove all
pets from the site, and not return without written authorization from the Building
Official;
f) Notify all occupants vacating the site that all personal property at the site may be
contaminated with dangerous chemical residue; and
g) Put locks on each doorway entrance to the site to prohibit people from entering
the site without authorization after all occupants of the site have vacated.
The obligation to promptly notify the persons and organizations mentioned above may be
delayed to accomplish appropriate law enforcement objectives, but only to the extent that
public health and child protection responsibilities are not unnecessarily compromised.
625.09. Seizure of Property. When the clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site is
inside a vehicle, boat, trailer or other form of moveable personal property, law
enforcement authorities shall immediately seize it and not allow it to be transported
except to a more secure location. In such circumstances, all other requirements of this
section shall be followed as closely as possible given the specific type of property in
which the site is discovered,
625.11. Action by Building Official. Subd, 1. Inspection and Declaration of Nuisance.
Within forty-eight (48) hours of notification that law enforcement authorities have
determined the existence of a clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site, the
Building Official shall cause the site to be inspected to determine the appropriate scope of
a permanent Declaration of Public Health Nuisance. Based on the results of the
inspection, the Building Official may then promptly issue a permanent Declaration of
Public Health Nuisance and a Do Not Enter - Unsafe to Occupy Order for the affected
site to replace the temporary declaration issued and posted by law enforcement. A copy
of the permanent declaration and order shall be posted on all doorway entrances to the
site or, in the case of bare land, shall be posted in several conspicuous places on the
property.
Subd. 2. Abatement Order. After the permanent Declaration of Public Health
Nuisance has been issued and posted, the Building Official shall send written notice to
the site owner ordering abatement of the public health nuisance, The abatement order
shall include the following information:
a) A copy ofthe Declaration of Public Health Nuisance and Do Not Enter - Unsafe
to Occupy Order;
b) Information about the potentially hazardous condition of the site;
c) Notification of suspension of the site's rental license if applicable;
d) A summary ofthe site owner's and occupant's responsibilities under this section;
and
e) Information that may help the owner locate appropriate services necessary to
abate the public health nuisance,
Subd. 3, Notice to Concerned Parties. The Building Official shall also mail a copy of
the permanent Declaration of Public Health Nuisance, a copy of this section, and a
notification of the suspension of the site's rental licenses, if applicable, to the following
concerned parties at their last known address:
a) Occupants or residents of the site ifthe identities of such persons are known;
b) Neighbors in proximity to the site who may be reasonably affected by the
conditions found, as determined in 625.11 (subd. 1);
c) The Hopkins City Manager;
d) The City of Hopkins Chief of Police or his/her duly authorized representative(s);
and
e) The Drug Enforcement Administration ofthe U.S, Justice Department; the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Health, and
the Department of Natural Resources.
Subd,4, Modification or Removal of Declaration. The Building Official is
authorized to modify or remove the Declaration of Public Health Nuisance after the
Building Official receives documentation from a City approved environmental hazard
testing and cleaning firm stating that the suspected health and safety risks, including
those to neighbors and potential dwelling occupants, either do not exist or have been
sufficiently abated or corrected to justify amendment or removal of the declaration.
625,13. Site Owner's Responsibility to Act. Within ten (10) business days of the date
the abatement order is mailed to the owner of the site, the owner shall accomplish the
following:
a) Provide the Building Official with written notification:
1. That the owner has confirmed that all persons and their pets have vacated
the site;
2, Of the name(s) of all children who the owner believes were residing at the
site; and
3, That the site will remain vacated and secured until the public health
nuisance is completely abated as required by this section;
b) Contract with one or more City approved environmental hazard testing and
cleaning firms to conduct the following work in accordance with the most current
Minnesota Department of Health guidelines:
1. A detailed on-site assessment of the extent of contamination at the site and
the contamination of the personal property therein;
2, Soil testing of the site and testing of all property and soil in proximity to
the site which the environmental hazard testing and cleaning firm
determines may have been affected by the conditions found at the site;
3. A complete clean up of the site (including but not limited to the clean up
or removal of plumbing, ventilation systems, fixtures and contaminated
soil) or a demolition of the site and a complete clean up ofthe demolished
site;
4. A complete clean up, or disposal at an approved dump site, of all personal
property in the site;
5. A complete clean up of all property and soil in proximity to the site which
is found to have been affected by the conditions found at the site;
6. Remediation testing and follow-up testing, including but not limited to
testing of the ventilation system and plumbing, to determine that all health
risks are sufficiently reduced, according to Minnesota Department of
Health guidelines, to allow safe human occupancy and use ofthe site and
use of the personal property therein and of all property and soil in
proximity to the site;
7. Provide the Building Official with the identity of the testing and cleaning
firm with which the owner has contracted for abatement of the public
health nuisance as required above; and
8. Establish a cleanup schedule with reasonable deadlines for completing all
actions required by the abatement order.
625.15. Site Owner's Verification of Compliance, The site owner must meet all
deadlines established on the cleanup schedule. Pursuant to the deadlines established by
the cleanup schedule, the site owner is required to provide the Building Official with a
signed statement from a City approved environmental hazard testing and cleaning firm
that the site, all personal property therein and all property and soil in proximity to the site,
is safe for human occupancy and use and that the cleanup was conducted in accordance
with the most current Minnesota Department of Health guidelines.
625.17, Site Owner's Responsibility for Costs. The site owner shall be responsible for
all costs, including those of the City, of dealing with and abating the public health
nuisance, including contractor's fees and the City's costs for services performed in
association with the clandestine drug lab site or chemical dump site. The City's costs may
also include, but shall not be limited to:
a) Posting of the site;
b ) Notification of affected parties;
c) Securing the site, providing limited access to the site, and prosecution of
unauthorized persons found at the site;
d) Expenses related to the recovery of costs, including the assessment process;
e) Laboratory fees;
1) Cleanup services;
g) Administrative fees;
h) Legal fees; and
i) Other associated costs,
Section 625.19. City Action and Recovery of Costs, Subd 1. If the site owner fails to
comply with any of the requirements ofthis section, the Building Official is authorized to
take all reasonable actions necessary to abate the public health nuisance including, but
not limited to, contracting with a City approved environmental hazard testing and
cleaning firm to conduct the work outlined in Section 625.13(b) of this section.
Subd.2. If the costs to clean the site or to clean the personal property at the site
are prohibitively high in relation to the value ofthe site or the personal property, the City
is authorized to remove or demolish the site, structure or building and/or dispose ofthe
personal property therein. These actions shall be taken in accordance with the provisions
of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 463 together with any amendments or modifications
thereto.
Subd. 3, Ifthe City abates the public health nuisance, in addition to any other
legal remedy, the City shall be entitled to recover all of its out of pocket costs plus an
additional 25% of such costs for administrative and legal expense, The City may recover
costs by civil action against the owner of the site or by assessing such costs as a special
charge against the site as taxes and special assessments are certified and collected
pursuant to Minnesota Statute ~429.101 or according to the provisions of Minnesota
State Statute Chapter 463 together with any amendments or modifications thereto.
The Building Official is authorized to notify any lien and/or mortgage holders of
the affected site.
625.21. Recovery of Costs from Persons Causing Damage, No provisions of this section
are intended to limit the site owner's, residents' or the City's right to recover costs
incurred under this section from either the persons contributing to the public health
nuisance, such as the operators ofthe site, and/or from other lawful sources.
625.23. Site Owner and Address, When the site is real property and the owner or the
address of the owner of the site is unknown, the owner and the owner' s address is
deemed to be that of the property's taxpayer's name and address as that information is
maintained by the county auditor's office. When the site is a vehicle, boat or trailer and
the owner or the address of the owner of the site is unknown, the owner and the owner's
address is deemed to be that of the person on file as the owner on the current or most
recent title to the vehicle, boat or trailer,
625.25. Suspension of Residential Rental License, Upon issuance of a permanent
Declaration of Public Health Nuisance, any residential rental license issued by the City
for the site, or any portions determined by the Building Official unsafe based on the
results of the inspection by the City approved environmental testing and cleaning firm, is
hereby declared to be immediately suspended pending full compliance with this section.
625.27. Unauthorized Removal of Postings. It is unlawful for any person, except
authorized City personnel, to remove a temporary or permanent Declaration of Public
Health Nuisance and/or Do Not Enter - Unsafe to Occupy order from a chemical dump
site or a clandestine drug lab site,
625.29. Entry Into or Onto Site. While a Declaration of Public Health Nuisance for an
affected site is in effect and has been posted at the site, no persons are permitted to be
inside the site, or on the site property without prior written consent of the Building
Official or as otherwise authorized by this section. To confirm compliance with this
section and to execute their duties under this section, law enforcement officers, the
Building Official, and any persons designated by the Building Official, may enter onto
the site property or enter into the site at any time while a Declaration of Public Health
Nuisance is in effect for the site.
625.31. Removal of Personal Property from the Site, While a Declaration of Public
Health Nuisance for an affected site is in effect and has been posted at the site, no
personal property may be removed from the site without prior written consent from the
Building Official. Consent to remove personal property shall only be granted at the
reasonable discretion ofthe Building Official, and only in cases of hardship after:
a) A City approved environmental hazard testing and cleaning firm has advised the
City, in writing, that the item(s) of personal property can be sufficiently cleaned
to remove all harmful contamination; and
b) The owner of the personal property agrees in writing:
1. That the owner is aware of the danger of using the contaminated property;
2, That the owner will thoroughly clean the property to remove all
contamination before the property is used; and
3. That the owner releases and agrees to indemnify the City, its staff, and the
Hopkins City Council from all liability to the owner and/or third persons
for injuries or damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, by the
contaminated property.
625.33. Violations and Penalties, Any person violating any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition, the City shall be entitled to seek any other remedy
available at law or in equity in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the
community, including temporary and permanent injunctions,