The City of Englewood Public Library is closed temporarily after testing showed methamphetamine contamination in exhaust vents, according to a news release.
On Jan. 6, the City of Englewood tested its restrooms and other surfaces in the Public Library and the restrooms on the second floor of its Civic Center, according to a City statement.
The City received test results on Wednesday showing levels of methamphetamine contamination above state thresholds, according to the release. Other spaces in the library also tested positive for lower contamination levels and will receive specialized cleaning.
The City temporarily closed the library, north Civic Center lobby and second floor restrooms pending a remediation plan.
"The health and safety of our staff, residents and patrons is of the utmost importance to all of us at the City of Englewood," City Manager Shawn Lewis said in the release. "The test results we received today are troubling, and we immediately began working to remediate affected spaces with the goal of reopening the library as soon as possible."
The City is following guidance from public health officials and remediation specialists to respond to the situation.
The incident comes a month after Boulder's Public Main Library closed for cleaning after testing of methamphetamine residue found in its restroom air ducts, according to a City of Boulder news release.
The "higher than acceptable" levels of methamphetamine residue found air ducts left the Boulder Library closed while officials conducted environmental testing and cleaning toward the end of December.
Denver Public Library Director of Communications and Community Engagement Erika Martinez told The Denver Gazette library officials have been in communication with the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, which is working on addressing these issues.
"(The DDPHE) along with other city agencies and industrial hygiene and mitigation firms are currently working on a protocol for sound assessment and more specific cleaning measures to address possible contamination from illicit substances in city facilities, including the library," Martinez said.
According to the department, the health risks related to methamphetamine residue are very low, Martinez said, with higher risk coming from the production of methamphetamine rather than secondhand exposure.
"We have a full crew that cleans our bathrooms daily and throughout the day as needed using industry standard products for commercial buildings that we began using at the start of the pandemic," Martinez said. "Our bathrooms are monitored throughout the day by staff. These are all standard procedures we've been following all along."
This trend is part of a broader issue surrounding methamphetamine in Colorado.
In 2021, meth contributed to 734 overdose deaths in Colorado, according to the Harm Reduction Action Center in Denver. That's nearly double the number of residents who died by homicide that year, and it's more than 10 times the meth death toll from 2011. More people died from meth overdoses in 2021 than in those tied to heroin, cocaine, prescription pills and alcohol combined.
Experts said meth alone does not explain why overdoses have surged as much as they have. The primary reason, every person interviewed for a previous Denver Gazette story said, is fentanyl.
Of the 734 meth overdoses in 2021, 317 involved fentanyl, more than double the number from 2020, according to state data.
