Speak to police, politicians or even recovering addicts, and they'll tell you the epicenter of the opioid crisis in Pittsburgh is in Carrick.
Addiction recovery is critical, but how that recovery should be regulated could soon lead to a court battle between a recovery house in that neighborhood and the Allegheny County Health Department.
“Honestly, if I wasn't here, I probably would be homeless or maybe not even alive. Who knows,” said Elaine Baker, a recovering addict.
Baker’s been clean for more than three years. It's an achievement she says was made possible by Recovery United Pittsburgh, a group that manages five drug and alcohol recovery houses around the city, including one in Carrick that Baker now manages.
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“I always tell the girls when they come here, you've been given a gift. It's up to you, it's your choice what you want to do with it,” she said.
Now some fear that gift could be taken away by the county health department.
“They are telling us if we don't allow them to come and inspect, they are going to shut us down," said John Miller, president of Recovery United Pittsburgh.
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Miller says he operates recovery houses with strict rules like curfews, drug testing and mandatory support meetings. They're protected under the federal Fair Housing Act.
But the health department sees it as a boarding house, which they can inspect.
Miller is now in the process of taking the department to court over the issue.
"We're not breaking any laws, so we don't want to have to go to court and sue anybody, because that's just a waste of time and money for us and for the county," he said.
Channel 11 reached out to the health department to get their side of the story. They responded by simply saying, “We do not comment on pending litigation or legal matters.”
In December, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill giving the state regulatory control over recovery houses that receive public funds.
Miller says he already has his homes privately inspected and would be happy to comply with any new state regulations, but right now that authority doesn't fall to the county health department.