[[R.O. 1998 § 505.300; Ord. No. 2894 §1, 4-7-2014]
A.
Title. This Section is entitled and may
be known as the "Methamphetamine Contamination Abatement Protocol."
B.
Purpose. The purposes of this Section are:
1.
To adopt standards for identifying
dangerous levels of toxic chemicals and residue associated with the
presence or production of methamphetamine; and
2.
To establish protocols whereby the
Department of Building and Zoning ("Department") may cooperate with
and rely on law enforcement and emergency agencies when applying property
maintenance and safety standards to order or cause the abatement of
contamination in structures due to the presence or production of methamphetamine.
C.
DEPARTMENT
METHAMPHETAMINE
QUALIFIED COMPANY or QUALIFIED CONTRACTOR
1.
2.
3.
4.
Definitions. For purposes of this Section,
the words or terms listed below are defined as follows:
The Building and Zoning Department of the City of St. Ann.
Dextro methamphetamine, levo methamphetamine, and unidentified
isomers of the same, any racemic mixture of dextro/levo methamphetamine,
or any mixture of unidentified isomers of methamphetamine. The term
includes derivatives, conjugates, oxides and reduced forms of the
basic structure associated with the formation of methamphetamine.
For the purposes of this protocol, this term includes amphetamine,
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
A company or contractor that tests structures for the presence
of unsafe contamination and/or abates such unsafe contamination and
that:
Complies with the guidelines of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for Methamphetamine
Laboratory Cleanup (August 2009);
Complies with the regulations of
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States
Department of Labor relating to hazardous waste operations and emergency
response, including 29 Code of Federal Regulations Section 1910.120;
Requires that at least one (1) employee
or supervisor assigned to and on duty at any work site shall have
completed the forty-hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency
Response (HASWOPER) training [Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) 29 CFR 1910]; and
Requires its personnel to complete
a clandestine drug lab assessment and decontamination course offered
by a sponsor acceptable to the Department.
D.
Unsafe Contamination. A structure will
be considered unsafe if it is found to contain any of the chemicals
listed below at exposure limits above the levels listed below referenced
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):
1.
Red phosphorus: any amount.
2.
Iodine crystals: C 0.1 ppm (1 mg/m3).
3.
Sulfuric acid: TWA 1 mg/m3.
4.
Hydrogen chloride: C 5 ppm (7 mg/m3).
5.
Hydrochloric acid (HCl gas): C 5
ppm (7 mg/m3).
6.
Methamphetamine: in a concentration
equal to or greater than 1.5 µgram/100 cm2.
7.
Lead and mercury: If it is determined
that the phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) method of methamphetamine manufacturing
was used, surface levels for lead in excess of 20 µg/ft2 and vapor samples for mercury in excess of 50 ng/m3.
E.
Closure And Abatement Orders Upon Report
And Investigation By Law Enforcement Or Emergency Agencies.
1.
When a law enforcement or emergency
agency reports to the Department that a structure in the City has
been used for the production of methamphetamine or as a storage facility
for methamphetamine or chemicals used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine,
the Department may order the structure condemned pursuant to the emergency
measures provided in the City's Property Maintenance and/or Municipal
Code of Ordinances regarding dangerous buildings. The Division shall
rescind such an order if the law enforcement or emergency agency later
reports that after testing and investigation it has not found unsafe
contamination in that structure.
2.
When a law enforcement or emergency
agency reports to the Department that it has found unsafe contamination
in a structure in the City that has been used for the production of
methamphetamine or as a storage facility for methamphetamine or chemicals
used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine, the Department shall
order that structure condemned pursuant to the emergency measures
provided in the City's Property Maintenance and/or Municipal Code
of Ordinances regarding dangerous buildings.
F.
Supplementary Notice And Instructions.
1.
While condemnation and abatement
orders pursuant to the emergency measures provided in the City's Property
Maintenance and/or Municipal Code of Ordinances may be posted, the
Department shall also attempt to contact the owner of record of the
affected property, or the owner's agent, by personal service, first-class
mail or by posting on the property. If the mailing is returned, the
City shall provide notice once in a newspaper of general circulation
in St. Louis County, Missouri.
2.
Such notice shall direct the owner
to contact the Department within twenty (20) calendar days to establish
a schedule for decontaminating the structure, and further advise the
owner that failure to contact the Department within that time specified
may result in a request to disconnect utility services in order to
ensure that the structure is not reoccupied until it is decontaminated.
3.
Such notice shall also inform the
owner that if the owner contacts the Department within the time specified
in the notice, the owner may request to have the structure retested,
but such retesting must be performed as follows:
a.
The owner must employ the services
of a qualified company or contractor having no financial or ownership
interest or occupancy right in the subject property to perform sampling
and to analyze the samples.
b.
An inspector for the Department must be present when the qualified company or contractor takes samples, and the owner shall pay an inspection fee to the City of St. Ann in an amount as set forth in Section 400.700(G), payment of which must be made prior to the appointment for taking samples.
c.
Sampling and testing shall be performed
in accordance with the appropriate sections of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for Methamphetamine Laboratory
Cleanup (August 2009).
d.
The qualified company or contractor
engaged by the owners must report the results of its analysis of the
samples taken to the Department.
G.
Decontamination.
1.
If unsafe contamination exists in
a structure, the owner shall obtain a permit from the City and hire
a qualified contractor or company to decontaminate the structure.
The request for permit shall specify the qualifications of the contractor
or company, the methods for decontamination, and the schedule for
decontamination. The fee for the permit shall be two hundred fifty
dollars ($250.00) and shall include any inspections as needed by the
City.
2.
The request for permit must be submitted
for approval to the Department within twenty (20) calendar days of
the receipt of notice. Approval will be based solely on the methods
of decontamination, timeliness of the schedule and the qualifications
of the contractor. Approval or rejection of the request for permit
will be provided within a reasonable time of submission. If rejected,
the owner will be informed, in writing, of specific reasons for the
rejection and will be required to amend the request for permit. Decontamination
shall be performed in accordance with the appropriate sections of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for
Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup (August 2009).
3.
If the owner of property determined
to have unsafe contamination fails to voluntarily abate that contamination
or fails to submit a request for permit within twenty (20) calendar
days, the Department may serve a notice of violation and proceed in
accordance with provisions for abatement of unsafe conditions or structures
in the City's Property Maintenance and/or Municipal Code of Ordinances
regarding dangerous buildings. The Department may request disconnection
of the utility services until the decontamination is complete.
4.
Post-Decontamination Sampling. Following
the completion of the work, the owner shall notify the Department
that work is complete and the owner must provide written test results
as evidence that the property is compliant with this regulation. The
post-remediation sampling and testing must be performed by a qualified
contractor or company other than and independent of the contractor
or company that performed the decontamination, and that sampling and
testing must be done in accordance with the appropriate sections of
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary Guidelines for
Methamphetamine Laboratory Cleanup (August 2009).
H.
If the owner fails to respond to the Department's
notice of violation by taking all of the required steps for voluntary
abatement, the costs of abatement shall be a lien on the property
until paid.
I.
Final Action. After the property has been
decontaminated and the Department is in possession of evidence that
the pertinent chemical levels are below unsafe contamination levels,
the structure will be considered safe and suitable for performance
of a full inspection for an occupancy permit. If utility services
have been disconnected, the Department will notify the utilities that
the unsafe condition has been mitigated and service can be restored.
The property owner shall be responsible for any reconnection.
