But it's not required. The county Environmental Department also declines to pass judgment on whether the property is safe because of fear the county could be held liable and sued over unsafe lab sites. Sacramento County requires property owners to hire an industrial hygienist to test for meth and other chemicals, clean up the property and take samples again before issuing a letter that the property is safe. That's all done at the property owner's expense. If the owner balks, the case is referred to code enforcement.
Some counties assert that the residual danger from meth labs is overstated.
A lot of them are so volatile, once the materials are removed, they don't really have any toxicity or residual effect. At Juan's home in Ballico, agents removed the chemicals from the lab used to produce hydrogen chloride gas, and Merced County Environmental Health officials sent a letter to the property owner, Hartle Spycher, informing him of his legal responsibility to clean up the property. The county didn't specify how many tests or what kind of tests were to be performed, but advised Spycher to hire an environmental toxicologist or certified industrial hygienist. Spycher hired an environmental toxicologist from Environmental Assessment Services in Merced. Owner Terry Priest says he didn't test the soil or the water, and he refused further comment.