About FSE | What's New | Staff | Schools & Training | Documents | FSE Forms | WVU RBA | Links
Methamphetamine is a highly addictive, neurotoxic stimulant that damages the central nervous system. Meth is also a fire hazard on farms and in neighborhoods.
According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), “the manufacture of methamphetamine in home labs constitutes a serious growing environmental problem.”
“Methamphetamine is a big problem,” said Jeff Simpkins, former West Virginia University Fire Service Extension (WVU-FSE) director. “In rural areas, there’s an increase in individuals stealing chemicals from farmers or setting up a lab in an abandoned barn.”
Sgt. Joe Crawford, St. Albans Police and Fire, agrees. “Discoveries are on the rise. Meth labs are becoming more prevalent. Now they’re moving into apartments and large urban areas too. You can set up a lab in a bathtub,” he said, adding that often police find larger labs in farm buildings."
DEA Sees an Increase in Small Toxic Labs
Crawford, senior investigator and a graduate of the prestigious FBI National Academy, is a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) certified Clandestine Drug Lab technician, supervisor of the tactical team and his department’s public information officer. He wrote a WVU-FSE course Clandestine Lab Awareness and Recognition. The course states that of all the clandestine labs seized in the U.S. in the last 10 years, 80 percent produced methamphetamine.
According to the DEA, super labs produce most of the meth in this country, but during the past decade, there has been a substantial increase in meth production in “small toxic labs” that produce the drug from legitimate household products. It is relatively easy to make and has a huge profit margin.
“Operator hazard is the biggest danger with meth labs,” Crawford said. When you have a cooker who is also a user who stays up for days, that person may try a short cut in the process or make another dangerous error. Meth labs contain highly explosive chemicals and extreme materials, such as sulfuric and hydrochloric acid.
“The second and third phases of meth production are the most volatile,” Crawford explained. Cookers use substances like acetone or ether to remove impurities. “Ether is highly flammable. Given the right circumstances ether can level a building,” Crawford said. “In the course I teach, I light a quart of ether in car and it disintegrates a car.”
“Nazi” Method of Meth Production Uses Anhydrous Ammonia
“Methamphetamine: A Unique Threat to Law Enforcement” outlines three primary meth production methods. The “Nazi” method, used by Nazis during World War II to keep troops alert, is most common in small labs. It doesn’t require an extensive knowledge of chemistry and it’s faster than the others.
This method begins a chemical reaction by adding lithium strips from batteries and anhydrous ammonia, an efficient, widely used source of nitrogen fertilizer, to reduce pseudo ephedrine. Inhaling anhydrous ammonia causes edema of the respiratory track and asphyxia. Contact with vapors can damage eyes and mucous membranes.
“There was a recent case in Belington in which a farmer was using anhydrous ammonia,” Crawford said. “The farmer seemed to be running low and realized someone was tapping into his tank.”
Every Meth Lab Is a Crime Scene
According to the WVU-FSE meth awareness course, any clandestine lab must be treated as a crime scene and as a hazardous materials (hazmat) incident. Law enforcement officers enter these homes only in full protective gear for respiratory and chemical contact.
“We used to seize property in drug raids,” Crawford said. “But with clandestine meth labs, it costs more to have it abated or removed because of the hazardous materials.
Recently, he said, they found a lab in a “really nice house in a neighborhood of $150 to $200,000 homes. The house didn’t stand a chance,” he said. “The whole basement was a dump site.”
Local authorities will call the DEP if a meth lab is large or if there are environmental dangers to a residence or creek. And most local 911 centers are linked to the DEA, which is the lead agency.
Processing meth gives off the smell of ammonia or rotten eggs. According to Crawford, “If you detect odor, you are being exposed.”
● Be vigilant.
● Secure all farm chemicals.
● Never approach a building you suspect is being used as a meth lab.
● Call local law enforcement authorities immediately.
“West Virginia's Latest Environmental Hazard: Methamphetamine” — WVDEP
“Using Anhydrous Ammonia Safely on the Farm” by John M. Shutske, University of Minnesota Extension Service
he/11/01/05
WVU Fire Service Extension
PO Box 6610
Morgantown, WV 26506-6610
1-866-WVU-FIRE
