The owners of properties that house meth labs could be forced to pay for an expensive, thorough cleanup of those structures if legislation expected to be introduced in the General Assembly next week becomes law.

Currently, meth houses in Ohio are cleaned out by local or state authorities, but dangerous residue often is left behind.

Methamphetamine use is a concern among area authorities. In a seven-county region that includes Butler, 14 meth-lab seizures have been reported this year to the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which facilitates cleanups.

A total of 18 meth labs in the region were handled by BCI in all of 2011, up from 11 in 2010.

At the current rate, BCI will clean up more than 30 area meth labs this year, and not all of the hazardous cites are reported to the state. Counties and cities also handle cleanup duties.

“Southwest Ohio is just off the hook,” said Scott Duff, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation meth unit commander. “It is just extremely busy in that part of the state.”

Federal money to help local governments cover the costs of cleanups ran out in February 2011. Congress allocated more funds in March, but that $12 million injection to cover the entire country is a stop-gap measure.

Currently, BCI provides funds for meth cleanups, which cost about $1,800 each.

“We hope this gets addressed and gets funded the way we think it should be funded,” Duff said.

With training help from the state, local law enforcement agencies are increasingly saving money by doing clean-ups themselves, although they still they contract some out at a cost of sometimes more than $4,000.

Billing owners

About a half-dozen cities in northeast Ohio are taking a different approach to cleaning meth houses. They are slapping tax liens on homes where meth labs are found, according to Lee Sergener, who is hired by cities across the state to clean up meth-lab waste.

“What will end up happening is the police will pay for it initially, or the city ... then the property owner, their taxes will be deferred,” to the tune of $300 to $1,200, said Sergener of Warren-based Ohio Bio-Hazardous Recovery. “It’s a reasonable amount.”

After labs are cleared out by BCI or local authorities, a dangerous residue persists, Sergener said. That can pose serious health risks.

Sergener said that when he walks into a recently “cleaned” meth house he gets a headache and experiences shortness of breath.

“I’m a 200-pound guy,” he said. “Imagine what it’s going to do to a 20-pound toddler.”

Proposed legislation would set new standards statewide for cleaning up meth labs, sending the bill for a second cleaning to the property owner.

“There’s a public safety aspect to it and there is a ... revitalization effort to it,” said Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, one of the bill’s authors.

“What we’re trying to do is to decide how best to clean up sites that were formerly used as meth labs so, one: the community is protected and knows these homes have been remediated and, second, to get these homes and structures on the market to be sold and reused safely so that neighbors aren’t overrun with vacant meth labs.”

Beagle is drafting the bill with state Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Copley.

LaRose said the state likely will license cleanup companies like they do with asbestos and lead abatement.

The thorough cleaning could carry a price tag of $5,000 to $8,000 for the owners of meth houses, Surgener estimates.

“This bill will pass and folks need to prepare for it,” he said.

Staff writer Kelli Wynn contributed to this report.