VANDERBURGH CO., IN (WFIE) -
The Vanderburgh County Health Department is warning landlords to watch out who they rent to.
At least 160 properties in the Evansville area have been condemned because of meth labs. Officials say if the property doesn't have to be torn down, the cleanup can be very costly.
The Vanderburgh County Health Department is distributing a pamphlet, a guide for helping them identifying meth labs in their properties and what to do if they find one.
Windows are broken, yellow caution tape still wraps around the front porch and an orange notice is taped to the door warning that properties once housed a meth lab and is not safe to enter.
"There's going to be chemical residues on the floor, porous items are going to inhale the gasses," says Dwayne Caldwell of the Vanderburgh County Health Department.
Caldwell says 160 Evansville Homes have been condemned due to meth labs and others are in need of extensive cleaning and renovation work to bring the house up to state standards.
Caldwell says the cleaning process is even more involved when it comes to the popular 'one pot' meth labs because of the danger of fire and explosions.
"If someone's cooking for a long time, you may end up tearing out walls, floors, basically everything," notes Caldwell.
The cost, which can be thousands of dollars, is paid by the landlord.
Karen Woods and Molly Moll, owners of Evansvillehomesforrent.com say the cleanup can take months.
"We know some houses that are just sitting empty because the property owner can't afford to make the proper repairs and remediations to put it back on the market," says Woods.
The owners of the rental service say they are carefully screening future tenants and are instructing their staff to keep an eye out for any problems, even if they're just making a routine maintenance call.
"If you see psuedoephederine boxes, if you see the different things that require the making of meth, let us know because they're our eyes and ears, the maintenance staff are," says Moll.
They hope educating themselves on what to look out for will keep them from footing a bill later on.
Evansville Police will host its annual landlord training seminar including information about applicant screening, liabilities, and meth lab clean-ups.
It's Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Central Library.
