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Photo by Heidi ZemachJohnsonburg Volunteer Fire Department and emergency personnel attend a workshop to recognize the signs of meth lab production, and to know what to do if they encounter it. (Heidi Zemach photo) By Heidi Zemach Special to the Record Though methamphetamine can be made from common household items, and over-the-counter products, its manufacture can be hazardous to everyone, not just users. That’s the main message emphasized to members of the Johnsonburg Fire Department who attended a workshop on the topic at the local fire hall Thursday evening. The presenter was Sgt. James Basinger, with the Pennsylvania State Police Division of Drug Law Enforcement, who heads up its Clandestine Lab Response Team.
A variety of meth labs are to be found all around us, often in plain sight here in Northwestern Pennsylvania— out in the forest, in hunting cabins, hotels, RVs, storage units, you name it, Basinger said. The closest known meth lab fire was in St. Marys, according to the fire department volunteers. But they believe other suspicious fires could have been meth-lab related, but as the structures burned down, and their occupants would never have admitted the true cause, they don’t know.
A particularly troubling phenomenon that drug enforcers have recently begun to see in Western Pennsylvania is meth production using the “one pot” or “one jug” method. In the last two months, three of these tiny, potentially deadly labs have been discovered in Blair, Center, and Laurence Counties. Dubbed by his group as the “shake and bake” method, ingredients such as lye and water are mixed together in a single container with the contents of ice compresses, salt, and aluminum foil, Basinger said. Gas must be continually released by its makers to prevent the containers from exploding.
Fire and emergency department personnel are particularly vulnerable to meth production, Basinger said. If a structure is on fire for example, the cause could be that someone’s methamphetamine production went awry. Certain chemicals used in the drug’s manufacture are water-reactive, meaning that they could ignite or explode if they come in contact with water.
But these days, anyone walking in the woods faces danger if they come across a propane tank, thermos bottle, cooler, or plastic gas jug in the woods, as these could have been filled with Anhydrous Ammonia and temporarily stashed there while the meth producers obtain and prepare the rest of the chemicals. His force has responded to two flash-fire deaths by meth producers thus far, Basinger said. Anhydrous Ammonia, a liquid fertilizer used by being injected directly into the ground due to its powerful, explosive nature, has resulted in two known deaths in Pennsylvania, including one in Bradford, Basinger said. The gas content, being released from one of two coolers, left out along a roadside, completely melted the lungs of the man in Bradford who inadvertently breathed it, Basinger said.
“It’s real nasty stuff. You don’t want to mess with it,” he added. He advises anyone coming across a compressed cylinder (fire hydrant, propane bottle, portable air tank, Freon bottle) in the woods, or elsewhere it doesn’t belong, to contact the state police—and definitely not go near it, Basinger said. Also don’t touch lithium batteries found cut up into pieces. If water touches lithium, it will catch on fire and could explode, Basinger said. There may be gloves discarded nearby, as those who cut into them for the lithium, use gloves to prevent their skin from burning. Other substances indicating possible meth production include packaged ice compresses, cold tablets containing Ephedrine or Pseudo ephedrine, HEET (dry gas), solvents, veterinarian products containing iodine, Liquid Plumber, rock salt, lye, and even kitty litter. Equipment typically used to create the white crystals include electric oven rings, blenders or coffee grinders, funnels, jars, and coffee filters.
Most methamphetamine produced in the area are small scale operations, made by, and for its own users, Basinger said. Its street names are Jib, Crank, Speed, Crystal, Jet Fuel, and Tina—as in, “Is Tina going to be at the party tonight?” Meth users are typically thin as they usually experience rapid weight loss. They tend to have bad teeth, and let their appearance go. They seldom sleep, but still have plenty of energy.
First manufactured by Germany in 1919, Methamphetamine was used to treat asthmatics in 1932. It has been issued to German, British, Japanese and U.S. troops at war because of the increased energy levels, little need for sleep, and decreased appetite it produces. In 1951 it became an approved treatment for obesity, ADD, ADHD, and Asthma. In the ‘60s it was popular with motorcycle gangs, who transported it on the crank of their engines—thus the name “crank.” During the 1980’s, Mexican Nationals began illegally mass-producing it for the US markets. That product tends to be watered down for profit, and is therefore weaker than the locally produced, home-made variety, Basinger said.
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