Article: PROPERTY OWNERS STUCK WITH METH CLEANUP BILLS

INDIANAPOLIS - Indiana's methamphetamine epidemic is leaving property owners paying cleanup bills long after the meth labs have been dismantled by police.

An Indiana law that took effect two years ago says the cost of cleanup falls to property owners even though they likely had nothing to do with cooking the illegal drug.

High tab

That tab, said Phil Ball of Aegis Environmental Inc. in Greenwood, can run anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000.

More landlords are liable to face such bills. Indiana State Police and other agencies uncovered 1,092 labs in the state in 2008, a 31 percent increase from 2007.

Homes, apartments, house trailers, hotels and motels all can be havens for meth labs, which often ...

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