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Deputies identify and announce meth lab history at property sales
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
The Summit County Sheriff's Office has retooled how it handles public auctions involving properties that once served as methamphetamine labs.
The county is now identifying known sites up for auction and deputies are announcing the property's meth history at the time of the sale.
The sheriff also is developing a Web site so people can look up properties tainted by meth.
''We're trying to make it a little easier for people to be able to figure out what was going on with a certain property,'' sheriff's Capt. Hylton Baker said Friday.
The new effort to alert buyers at auctions began last month. Before, the sheriff's office followed the motto ''buyer beware.''
''I applaud the sheriff for his efforts,'' County Council President Nick Kostandaras said. ''It's high time we take a little more active role.''
A Beacon Journal analysis of federal records and sheriff's sales indicates that many properties used as meth labs have been sold at sheriff's auctions. It's unclear whether the buyers were aware of the history of the properties.
The sheriff will have to rely on other law enforcement agencies in the county to help create the countywide database.
The new policy follows recent media reports about homeowners and renters living in properties and unaware of the meth connection. Last month, the county created the Methamphetamine Property Awareness Task Force to study how to inform homeowners and renters about the sites.
Meth is a drug made by cooking ingredients, including over-the-counter medications. The cooking creates dangerous chemical residues that can seep into walls and carpeting.
Exposure to those chemicals can cause headaches, chest pain, nausea, dizziness and other problems, depending on the length and type of exposure, according to health experts.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Clandestine Laboratory Register identifies 138 properties in Summit County as meth lab sites. The list is available online at http://www.dea.gov/seizures/ohio.html.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
The Summit County Sheriff's Office has retooled how it handles public auctions involving properties that once served as methamphetamine labs.
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