Meth Problems Recur for Potential Homeowners

Police bust meth labs just about everywhere, often in a home. Eventually those homes are sold, but some say meth residue stays put and can potentially be hazardous to new tenants. It happened to a couple in McRae who filed suit against their realtor, who never told them their home was a former meth house. There`s Arkansas law requiring that they do, but some say that`s the problem. The clock still chimes and food still sits in the cabinet: all evidence that someone still lives at the house on Grand Avenue in McRae. But Hazel and Clarence Cornell have been living in a trailer in the backyard for a year. "We do not have anything that`s not contaminated in that house, there`s 45 years of living in that house," said Hazel Cornell. The Cornell`s bought the house in McRae in 2001 to retire in. They soon noticed something was making their already weakened immune systems worse. "He couldn`t breath, he turned white as a sheet and could not breath," Cornell said. "The beginnings of emphysema for him and I have chronic bronchitis." The Cornells say it`s caused by the residue left in the house from its days as a meth lab. Testing showed that by Arkansas standards, the Cornell house had 72 times the suggested level of methamphetamine. "All the green that you see in the sink," she said, pointing to the kitchen sink drain, "that`s meth, meth residue right there." "I was told meth was made in these ovens, right here. I baked bread in these ovens," she explained. Signs hang in their front yard are aimed at drawing enough attention to change the law. "Everytime police raid a house for meth contamination that there be some notice or disclosure out there, so a person knows they`re buying a house that may be contaminated," explained North Little Rock City Attorney, Paul Suskie. Suskie says they`re hoping the legislature will take it up in the next session. "You cannot solve the deterioration of a neighborhood and you can`t solve the problem of meth contamination through simple criminal prosecution, you have to do more," he said. An environmental company says it would cost over $50,000 to decontaminate the house. The realtor who sold the house to the Cornells says no one was ever arrested on meth charges from that house. Although, several McRae Police arrest reports and bench warrants say there were. A court will decide in April when the suit goes to trial.