Testifier recounts months-long cleanup after tear gas; committee advances bill requiring notice after chemical irritants deployed

A committee heard personal testimony about the lingering dangers and logistical burdens families face when law enforcement deploys chemical irritants inside private buildings, and the committee advanced a bill designed to improve information and remediation for occupants.

Colin Hartman, who said he is the son of the property owners affected, gave a detailed account of cleanup problems after law enforcement fired multiple tear-gas canisters into his childhood home. "When I went back into the house during the first week... my eyes started stinging, my throat burned, and my skin became irritated just from being inside," Hartman said. He told the committee he was never given a clear inventory of what agents were used and said remediation — including testing and contractor coordination — took nearly eight months. He said homeowners’ insurance denied coverage because the residue was treated as a pollutant and that obtaining product information and safety data sheets from the city was difficult at first.

Chair Mueller described the bill’s core requirement: when chemical irritants are deployed inside a building, the deploying law-enforcement agency must leave a standardized notice for the owner or occupant explaining that remediation may be necessary and providing contact information for the deploying agency. Nonpartisan staff (Mister Johnson) told the committee the DE2 amendment and the oral amendment require disclosure of details including the product name, product number and the total number of chemical irritants, smoke-screen or diversionary devices deployed.

Members asked practical questions about implementation, including who would be responsible for leaving a notice at multi-agency scenes and how to count devices when a SWAT entry involves many officers; sponsors said the commanding officer of the scene would be responsible and that the notice is intended to give residents the information needed to begin appropriate testing and cleanup. The committee adopted an oral amendment (changing “distraction” to “diversionary” in four places) and the DE2 amendment as amended, then voted to re‑refer the bill as amended to the judiciary, finance and civil law committee.

What happens next: House File 3782 will go to the judiciary, finance and civil law committee for further work and potential amendment.