METH LAB AFTERMATH

Special Team Performs Cleanup After Drug Raid

Cleaning up after a methamphetamine lab is raided can take a while,
but it depends on the lab's size and the chemicals involved, officials
said. While it only took 30 to 45 minutes to clean up the meth lab
found at 806 W. Goodwin Ave. on Wednesday, it took a special team
trained in removing hazardous materials to do the work, said Sgt.
Erica Padilla with the Victoria Police Department. Because the
Victoria Police Department is not allowed to touch the materials, a
team from Responsive Environmental Solutions from New Braunfels was
called in to remove the highly explosive materials used for cooking
the drug.

"This was an average-size lab," she said.

Chemicals typically used in the cooking process, according to the
drugfree.org Web site, include ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, red
phosphorous, hydrochloric acid, anhydrous ammonia, drain cleaner,
battery acid, lye, lantern fuel and antifreeze.

The specific chemicals used in the production of the lab on Goodwin
will not be known until Responsive Environmental Solutions can test
the items, said Senior Patrol Officer Joseph Felan, a member of the
Victoria Police Department meth lab team.

Chemicals used in the cooking process are highly reactive so any spark
could cause an explosion, Padilla said. Vapors released during the
cooking process can be lethal.

After the cleanup, Padilla said the Victoria Police Department left a
placard on the front door of the home to alert the land/home owners
that it is their responsibility to get their own cleanup crews.

"I don't know if any of those chemicals were spilled prior to us
(entering), so we tell (the owners) how hazardous they are and that
most of these (chemicals) are skin absorbent," she said.

As well as placing placards, Padilla notified the Victoria City-County
Health Department, which will do its own follow-up at a later date.

The cost of cleanup depends on how many chemicals are involved, the
amount of follow-up involved and lab results, she said.

"It ranges anywhere from $1,000 up to $8,000, but it can go beyond
that just depending on how many chemicals and how much stuff there is
to cleanup," she said.

As a result of the meth lab bust, two men, ages 27 and 51, and two
women, ages 29 and 31, all of Victoria, were arrested on suspicion of
possessing meth and possessing chemicals used to produce meth. The
29-year-old woman lived at the home.

The 27-year-old man was also charged with tampering with evidence, and
the two women were additionally charged with endangering a child. Two
children belonging to the women were at the home when police arrived.

No one has been officially charged in the case, said Mike Ratcliff,
chief of staff with the district attorney's office.

"What they'll probably do is wait until they bring the lab results in.
It could be several days," he said.

The discovery of the drugs and subsequent arrests has shocked some
neighbors.

While most neighbors were either unavailable or preferred not to
comment on the discovery, a few said they were stunned at the discovery.

"Quite surprised, but that's all I want to say," said Hazel Edmondson,
a resident of West Goodwin Avenue.

Mrs. A.W. Krueger, who lives in the 700 block of W. Goodwin Avenue,
said she was caught off-guard by the bust.

"I don't know what to say. A friend of mine told me about it," Krueger
said. "I was kind of surprised. I didn't know what was going on."