HUGE CLEAN-UP LOOMS AFTER DISCOVERY OF DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

RCMP Said The Dangerous Chemicals Were Likely Used To Make The
Illegal Street Drug Crystal Meth

SURREY - Officials have abandoned plans for a large-scale evacuation
in the east part of the city today, but are still faced with a
massive cleanup after finding hundreds of litres of dangerous and
volatile chemicals dumped at two separate residential construction sites.

On Thursday, Surrey RCMP said the chemicals were likely dumped by
people who had been making the illegal street drug crystal meth. A
spokesman was warning residents of at least 200 homes -- and students
at five schools -- that they might have to evacuate a large region
surrounding one of the dump sites while the cleanup was underway.

The alert arose from fears that an attempted cleanup may disturb the
chemicals and lead to a reaction that could either cause an explosion
or release dangerous gas into the air -- a possibility that had many
residents extremely concerned.

Officials were more concerned about one of the two sites -- located
at 182nd Street and 70th Avenue -- because a chemical reaction had
been created when a construction worker moved the containers of material.

"It's scary," said Gidget Kramer, a resident who lives near the
second site, located in the 7300-block of 194th Street.

"These chemicals can flatten a neighbourhood," she said. "If they
blow they can flatten a city block, and that's scary."

Kramer, head of the local Block Watch program, added this is not the
first time someone has dumped chemicals from a methamphetamine lab on
her street.

"We had it last spring in the ditches," she said, adding that she
thinks people use the street because it is "dark and it's secluded."

"It's not good. You've got kids here and lots of animals," she said.

At the 182nd Street site, where contractors are building a
residential subdivision, neighbours had a similar reaction.

"I'm worried about my kids and my dog," said Sharon Estok, who said
she believes there is a significant amount of drug activity on her
street, including what she suspects to be a growing operation in a
house down the street.

"Our whole neighbourhood is going downhill," she said, adding she was
nervous about the planned cleanup of the site near her house,
especially since she had received no official word from the city.

At a Thursday press conference, Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Roger
Morrow said city officials were most concerned about the dump site at
182nd Street, where two reactions had already taken place.

Morrow explained the chemicals on the 182nd Street site -- six to 10
garbage bags and 10 to 12 buckets of liquid believed to contain
everything from hydriodic acid to red phosphorus to caustic acid --
were first discovered on Tuesday morning by a contractor working on
the subdivision.

He said the workers had no idea what the chemicals were, adding that
after one worker moved the containers with a backhoe, a chemical
reaction was created which released a cloud of gas into the air.

Morrow said the backhoe operator ran from the scene.

He was taken to hospital complaining of numbness on his tongue and a
lack of sensation on his face, but officials are hopeful the problems
will not be permanent.

Morrow said a second reaction took place when a specially trained
hazardous materials crew was trying to determine what chemicals had
been left at the site.

"A chemical reaction took place resulting in a second gaseous cloud
measuring approximately 100 cubic metres," he said in a written
statement, explaining the cloud was about the height of a telephone
pole and the width of one quarter of a city block.

No one was hurt in that incident, he said.

Morrow added that about eight to 10 barrels of similar chemicals were
discovered on the site on 194th Street, and that both sites have been
under constant guard since they were discovered.

He said at that time that a specialized hazardous materials team
would attempt to clean both sites today, and that they may have to
evacuate the area surrounding the 182nd Street site if officials were
at all concerned about a major leak or explosion.

On Thursday evening, Morrow released a short statement saying no
evacuation would be required.

"At this time, both sites are considered stable," read the statement,
which did not state when a cleanup would take place.

"Emergency officials have determined that an evacuation is not
warranted at this time," it said.