Meth residue forces Manitou family to move

Debbie Rhea first got the news from a neighbor in Manitou Springs.

The one-bedroom, basement apartment she moved into in September 2006 had once doubled as a methamphetamine lab, a discovery made seven years earlier when a drugmaking accident sparked a chemical-laden explosion on Dec. 21, 1999.

"I just thought they cleaned it up," she said. "I never gave it another thought."

A month ago, Rhea learned otherwise.

In a letter from Dowda Realty Inc., the Colorado Springs firm that leased her the apartment at 840 Midland Road without disclosing its past, Rhea was told that a "routine survey" found methamphetamine residue in her unit and a unit on the top floor of the two-story home built in 1899.

The chemicals permeate building materials, drains and ventilation systems and can be dangerous to inhale even in small quantities, the letter said.

Long-term exposure to the toxic fumes can cause heart attacks, seizures or kidney failure, experts say.

Why the tests were done so long after the explosion was not explained.

"Neither we nor the owner of the property were aware (of ) the existence of methamphetamine," John C. Norgord of Dowda Realty Inc. told Rhea in the May 24 letter. "We urge you, for your own sake, to vacate as soon as possible."

Rhea was given listings for other apartments managed by the company and an offer to waive her application fee. She also was free to break her lease and move elsewhere, she was told.

She didn't want another apartment through Dowda Realty.

What Rhea wanted, she said, was more information about the fumes that she and her family had been inhaling for more than a year.

Rhea, a cancer survivor who still suffers complications, had her health to worry about. She said she was more concerned about her infant granddaughter, who developed a mysterious hacking cough after moving in at 8 months old.

"She would cough until she threw up," Rhea said. The child and her mother left after a year, though the girl sometimes stayed with Rhea for weeks at a time after moving out.

As of Saturday, Dowda Realty had yet to respond to a request from Rhea's attorney to furnish a report summarizing the results of the March testing.

Shannon Norgord, the managing broker, said the company requested the report from the homeowner but did not receive a response.

The listed owner, Eleanor Rowley, is elderly and her business is overseen by two daughters, Norgord said. The El Paso County Assessor's Office lists one of them as Carolyn Dean. She could not be reached for comment, and attempts to contact her through Dowda Realty were unsuccessful.

Dowda Realty was never told a meth accident was to blame for the blast, Shannon Norgord said. The company moved quickly to warn inhabitants when it learned of the test results, she said.

A story published in The Gazette after the blast in 1999 reported the roof buckled, the front door splintered in two, and the kitchen sink was launched like a projectile in a meth-related explosion. A man in his 20s was injured, authorities said.

Colorado did not have laws mandating cleanup standards when the incident occurred.

That changed in 2005, and the law makes no exception for meth labs discovered before its passage, said Jim Goodwin, a compliance and enforcement officer for the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment.

Even so, Goodwin said, the county Health Department inspects only labs discovered in 2005 or later, though budget cuts likely mean that program will be halted.

Rhea's apartment is among dozens of former labs that have never been inspected, he said. Six hundred and nineteen labs were discovered in El Paso County between 1999 and 2004, police statistics show. Whether they were properly cleaned and rehabilitated depends on their owners.

Under state law, sellers are expected to disclose known "adverse material facts" about a property, which many interpret to include disclosing a history as a meth lab. The law does not specifically require landlords to disclose such information.

Colorado Springs police and the El Paso County Assessor's Office track properties where meth labs have been discovered.

Rhea, a part-time office worker at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, said she had difficulty finding a new apartment, though she just found another apartment and expects to move soon.

Shannon Norgord questioned her motives, suggesting she was hanging around in preparation for a lawsuit. She said the resident in the second unit where meth was found moved within a day or two. The third unit, also occupied, was not contaminated, she said.

"If I thought my health was in jeopardy, I would skedaddle," she said.

Rhea bristled at the idea, saying she is short on money and couldn't find a suitable home in Manitou Springs, where she hoped to remain so that her granddaughter could take advantage of the school system. The application process for her prospective apartment in Old Colorado City took more than a week, she said.

"Besides, I've been here for almost two years," she said. "What's another month?"

FINDING METH LABS

The following resources are available for learning the locations of former clandestine labs:

- Online at www.springspolice.com under "CSPD Maps." The Colorado Springs Police Department's meth team, which covers El Paso and Teller counties, lists busts dating to 2001.

- Visit the El Paso County Assessor's Office between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 27 E. Vermijo Ave., second floor, or call 520-6600. The office lists busts dating to 1998.