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A clean-up is underway at the Juneau home where police found multiple “one-pot” methamphetamine labs in December, a find that led to the arrests of the couple residing there.
Traces of meth contamination were detected in the duplex at 4483 Kanata Street, and the property has since been branded as an “illegal drug manufacturing site” by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
The Tlingit-Haida Regional Housing Authority, which owns and manages the property, say they’ve made it a top priority to get contamination down to levels approved by the DEC.
“It is our first priority to make certain our tenants are in safe housing,” President and CEO of the Housing Authority Ricardo Worl said.
Testing showed the contamination is contained to the interior of the one unit in the duplex and its boiler room, posing no danger to adjacent properties or neighbors, according to Housing Authority Housing Manager Anne Weske. Testing was conducted by Carson Dorn Inc., an environmental engineering firm in Juneau.
No one is allowed to move into the unit until it meets the DEC’s standards, which is 0.1 micrograms (µg) of methamphetamine per 100 centimeters squared, according to Scot Tiernan, the DEC’s on-scene coordinator for oil spills and hazardous responses for Southeast Alaska. That’s the lowest level that could be detected at the time the regulations were put in place, he said.
Forty-four µg’s was detected in the Kanata Street unit’s boiler room, where they suspect the meth was being manufactured, Weske said. Inside the unit, Weske says testing is consistent with methamphetamine being smoked inside the house. She said testing showed 0.25 µg on a sample taken from a bedroom wall; 3.3 µg on a sample from a light switch plate; and 0.38 µg on a sample taken near a heater where the wall had discoloration.
The testing samples were sent to ALS Environmental Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the results came back last month, Weske said. The contamination tests cost $4,500.
No levels of meth were detected in the adjoining unit in the duplex since the two units have separate air handling systems, Weske said. The tenant in that unit is still currently residing there since it was deemed safe, Weske said.
A maintenance crew with coveralls and breathing masks began cleaning the contaminated unit on Monday, stripping it down to a “skeleton state” by removing all fixtures, carpets, light switches, outlet covers and the paint on the walls. The cleaning is anticipated to be complete this month, an effort that will cost somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000, the Housing Authority said.
At that point, more tests will be conducted by Carson Dorn, and once safe levels are reached, the Housing Authority will submit those results to the DEC. The unit will be also listed on the DEC website as an illegal drug manufacturing site for the next five years, as required by state statutes.
The Housing Authority owns several properties in the area of Kanata Street, which is off of Mendenhall Loop Road in the Mendenhall Valley. Weske said the neighborhood is a mix of privately owned properties and low-income housing. The Kanata Street duplex is listed as a low-income housing unit.
The Housing Authority manages about 700 homes in 16 different communities in the region. Some of their properties are Native-only housing. Others are market rate, low rent and transitional housing.
Alaska State Troopers announced in December they discovered the one-pot meth labs while executing a search warrant at the duplex. “One-pot” means that the chemical reaction is confined within one pot, usually a plastic soda bottle.
The warrant was executed by the Alaska Bureau of Investigations’ Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force, with assistance from the Juneau Police Department’s Drug Enforcement Unit, the FBI and Alaska Wildlife Troopers.
Tenants Jennifer T. Hartsock, 36, and Benjamin James Parson, 36, were arrested and later indicted by a Juneau grand jury on multiple felony drug charges. They are tentatively scheduled to go to trial in April.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Editor’s Note: The Empire had incorrectly reported in a previous version of this report that the tenant living in the adjacent unit of the duplex is related to the couple who were arrested, based on misinformation from the Housing Authority. They are not related.
Comments (40)
Add commentI hope the defendants, if
I hope the defendants, if found guilty, will be held responsible for covering the clean up costs of their little project.
probably not
I doubt they are held financially responsible. We live in a community where people can trash rental units and get away with it. We have tenants who haven't paid rent in five months. We have done everything correctly to evict them. The judge felt sorry for them because they have children and gave them another month to leave. Did the judge throw any of his cash our way to off-set the enormous expenses we have already incurred in supporting their professional squatting? Of course not. Instead, we get to take care of them.
I'm just grateful none of our tenants have ever been caught using or making meth. Having to clean up that mess would bankrupt us.
So sad
This lady had a great family and this is probably tragically sad for her loved ones. I hope she learns from this and the negative publicity in her home town makes her open her eyes and turn her life around. Addiction is a powerful thing and can turn the most loving and responsible person into somebody that they don't even recognize. Prayers go out to her family and friends who are surely wondering how it all went wrong.
She is a creep and a dope
She is a creep and a dope pusher. Nothing more. Hope she rots in prison with that other creepy dope pushing bead lady.
She is a creep and a dope
She is a creep and a dope pusher. Nothing more. Hope she rots in prison with that other creepy dope pushing bead lady.
You can recover lost rent
shenry100, you can recover lost rent. Even though the judge gave them another month (probably because you didn't give them proper non-payment notice as soon as the rent was a day late), you should at the end get a judgment for all the rent that was due and not paid. You need to take that judgement and file against their Permanent Fund dividend checks. It may take several years of renewed filings, but that's one sure way to get your money eventually.
T-H Housing can do the same thing with their addict tenants and eventually collect. Unfortunately, they'll get paid after child support, court fines, and the corrections system get paid.
Did they have children?
Living in that Toxic house? If so I personally believe, they should be charged with child endangerment, at the very least. Or criminal neglect, attempting to poison children that can't protect themselves
My prayers to the innocents of the Evil poison Meth
Drug Testing
And this is why people want drug testing for those that receive public assistance. I couldn't dream up a better example. T&H unknowingly subsidized their drug habits. If they got food stamps, WIC or unemployment then the state and federal government also subsidized their drug habits.
Children
They both have kids but have lost custody so no the kids didn't live in the home with them. Hopefully they can clean themselves up and be better parents.
AKNUT: So we are to assume any housing recipient of Tlingit-
Haida Housing Authority is also on public assistance?
I strongly suggest you back off.
You are doing no service for the 'let's test them' crowd.
Follow the money.
Address?
The article says 4483 Kanata and the picture has 8843 Kanata. I'm not sure if they are both a valid address but I would be upset if I lived at the address that was incorrectly listed as a drug house.
its all wrong.
people say the wrong,druggies do the wrong,and the law does wrong,who is right..the good thing here is that benifer wont be doing them things for awhile..wheres all the users getting it from now..ha?thought so.....
Hmm..
The flip side to this is learn to appreciate good renters and don't rip them off. One bad renter = all your profit gone. Good renter - cut them a good deal.
T&H Housing should clean up the site but
their #1 priority should be NOT renting to criminals in the first place! This is why we "need" more affordable housing in Juneau???
beardscratcher: as one who has 'scratched' the beard for some
time now I must say your contribution (and I do single it out) is singularly the most irrevelant rambling I have read. Good job.
@mamaguiz
Thank you for pointing that out. I called our web editor this morning about that, and she fixed the address in the cutlines so it matches the correct address in the article.
Thanks again,
Emily M.
Words in my mouth
Ken I suggest that you reread my statement.
I never said that everyone that uses T&H is on public assistance. I said that T&H subsidized their drug habits. I would rather see them give money to a family that was not involved in drugs.
I never said that these two were on public assistance but rather if they were it would be a good example of why they should be tested.
T&H is a great organization and unfortunately it was taken advantage of and they are out money that they could have used for a more deserving family.
Blame CBJ Planning
The people on the street adjacent to this one strongly objected to this subdivision but they were overruled. Drive through this subdivision and you can see that the objections were prescient.
Never fear, China loaned US taxpayers the money to fund these programs and China will have to fight us to be repaid. Perhaps that is why Obama wants our guns!
AKNUT: I did reread your statment. Granted, you did not
'say' T&H recipients were on 'public assistance'. But you certianly made the assertion. Words are very powerfull. I would suggest you choose yours more carefully.
.........
ken - what's your definition of public assistance? Federal tax money is pulled out of the air?
glacierdogs: your 'drive-by' comment is not appreciated.
***
@ dunker
Does T&H provide the public with assitance? Yes they do!
I would suggest you being logical Mr. Dunker. You're telling me not to say something I never said. You are drawing conclusions that aren't supported. I would request that you choose your words more carefully.
Good: Do you really know, or care, where our federal tax
dollars are being spent?
AKNUT: I do choose my words carefully.
***
Who?
Who foots the bill for the clean up effort? If convicted, the defendant(s) should be held liable for the charges. Yep, fat chance, they likely don't have a pot to pi__ in. When will it ever end?
I have to blame,
Generations of alcoholism drug addiction child neglect Children learn by example and then they going to adults that live that example. Our society is so broke down Compassion empathy and commonsense are virtually extinct in my opinion.
Dev_mom: Our society is not broken.
There are many examples of children being raised outside drugs and alchohol. These children learn by example.
But of course these families do not make for good press.
Ken
How true. Thank you for the hope.
sad
sad
@Ken
You are correct in more ways than one. Even our own local newspaper fails to report the positive stories because they must not be "juicy" enough. I regularly read articles in the JE about negativity surrounding addiction in our community. I know for a FACT that Ms. Russo was sitting in court all day about one month ago. She reported on only two of the three hearings she sat through that day. She failed to report on the hearing that was not full of negative words and a harsh outcome. This hearing went so well because the person had made great strides to change their life and had proven to not only the judge, but even the prosecutor that they had put their past behind them and proved beyond all doubt that they could be an asset to not only their children but to the community.
Why the JE only reports the negative baffles me. You don't think that it is good to share the positive stories with our community as well? Maybe the success stories are few and far between but they do exist. I for one think that with all the problems that drugs are causing in Juneau, that the JE would WANT to share stories of hope. Let people know that when you make bad choices, you are likely to reap harsh consequences. Even more importantly, when you make poor choices, accept the consequences and commit to bettering your life, you become a source of motivation and hope for others who are currently facing that fork in the road. Addiction is hard to overcome and very few have the courage, motivation and commitment to push through not only the addiction itself, but the realization of what pain and damage their actions caused others( and themselves ). When someone does make the changes, wouldn't it be fair reporting to print the positive as well? Like I said, maybe it wasn't newsworthy enough. Odd since several years ago when this persons mistakes were front page news, there was zero hesitation in reporting every detail. Years later, when a judge, prosecutor and the probation office acknowledged the 180 degree turn that this recovery addict made, the JE didn't have the time for to report on it. Shame!