A Whatcom County Health Department investigation concluded that drug use inside 22 North has not contaminated the building at a level that would require potentially extreme cleanup measures.
Based on tests run on swabs taken inside a stairwell at the homeless housing facility at 1022 N. State St. in Bellingham, levels of methamphetamine were below the state’s decontamination standard.
Bellingham police took the samples in February, during an investigation into the shooting death of Kasaundra Booker in the 22 North stairwell. A witness told police she, Booker and Shilo Englert were smoking “blues” in the stairwell, using a slang term for fentanyl. Englert was later arrested in connection with Booker’s death and charged with murder.
The state has set decontamination standards for hazardous chemicals associated with methamphetamine and its manufacture, but not for fentanyl or other drugs.
Concerns among 22 North’s neighbors over widespread drug use and crime inside and outside the building have led Whatcom County and Bellingham officials to press the Opportunity Council for changes at the facility. The organization owns and operates the building, providing social services for up to 40 formerly homeless residents in partnership with Northwest Youth Services.
Opportunity Council Executive Director Greg Winter said June 10 his agency had agreed to stricter screening requirements for both guests and potential tenants at 22 North — part of a “restabilization plan” intended to address neighbors’ concerns. Winter did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the results of the contamination investigation.
“The inside of 22 North is showing improvement with the actions already taken in the restabilization plan,” Health Department officials said in an email to Cascadia Daily News.
During the June 10 interview, Winter said Opportunity Council was prepared to take “extreme measures” if necessary to remove any meth contamination from 22 North. State law calls for decontamination, demolition or disposal of building materials contaminated with methamphetamine or some of its ingredients, as determined by an authorized contractor and with the approval of the local health department.
Surfaces inside 22 North are routinely washed with trisodium phosphate to reduce the contamination risk, Winter said. When individual units are vacated they are painted with an oil-based primer to “encapsulate” any potential meth residue before they are rented to the next tenant, he added.
