Hives appear after living in WV rural home

When I moved into a very secluded rural home In WV, I suspected meth cooking or meth use inside the home. First off, when I cleaned the walls in the master bathroom, I used Mr. Clean and the rags turned bright pink. The color of a benedryl capsule.

I also had to pick a massive amount of tape off of the same walls, as if someone had taped up a ton of Read more

US Soldiers sickened by chemical found in meth lab homes

Iraq war veteran Russ Kimberling Kimberling is one of nearly 50 current or former Guard members from Indiana, Oregon, and West Virginia who are suing over health problems caused by Chromium 6.

National Guard members from Indiana, Oregon, and West Virginia, are among the other U.S. soliders and civilians who have filed lawsuits against KBR, Inc, a company that they say failed to protect their health, while they were working at a water treatment plant for them in Iraq in 2003.  Hexavalent chromium, also known as Chromium-6,  is a chemical that got national exposure in the movie “Erin Brockovitch”, that starred Julia Roberts,  in 2000. Read more

Bay County Fl Sheriff Mckeithen is furious over baby burned in explosion

Bay County, FLA Sheriff Frank Mckeithen is furious over a meth lab explosion, earlier this week, that resulted in life threatening burns to a Johna Osborn, a one-year-old baby girl, whose playpen caught fire during a meth lab explosion. At a press conference soon after the explosion, Mckeithen let his anger and his words fly, stressing that he is tired of being politically correct when it comes to saving someone’s life.

*Sheriff McKeithen did this news conference shortly before John Osborn, the baby’s 34 year-old father was arrested and taken in to custody.

Bay County Florida: Baby in critical condition after meth lab explodes

Motel closes after 7 rooms filled with meth lab chemicals

The Cross Lanes Motel 6 on Goff Mountain Road in  WV has closed its doors, after finding out that 7 rooms in the motel were contaminated by meth lab chemicals.  On Thursday, July 9, 2009, around 10:30 a.m,  Detective V. Armstrong, Detective K. Shank and several other members of the Metro Drug Unit,  went to the motel to investigate a tip they received that someone was cooking meth in one of the rooms in the motel.  Inside the room, they discovered that what the tipster had told them was true. Donny Ray Kyle, 37, of St. Albans, Joseph Strickland, 32, of Elkview and Rebecca Walker, 34 were found inside the room, along with meth making equipment, chemicals used to manufacture meth, and meth residue.  Police also discovered that they had disabled the smoke detector in the room. They are being held at South Central Regional Jail.

After the bust, police  called in a Hazmat clean up team from Parkerburg to remove the chemicals and equipment, afterwhich the room would be boarded up, until it was professionally decontaminated. But, tests proved that the room was only one of 7 that had been contaminated by  hazardous chemicals.

The parent company of the Cross Lanes Motel, AccorHotels, says it will issue a news release about the incident.  No reservations are being accepted at the Cross Lanes Motel, until further notice.

*They have officially closed their doors and have updated their online reservation system, as well. Here’s what happened when I tried to make a online reservation today for the Cross Lanes Motel.

My concern is….how many families with children stayed in those contaminated rooms? No one is saying anything about that. Maybe no one really knows, for sure.

The motel’s website says that it can provide cribs for infants and it allowed children to stay there free- a good deal for parents traveling with young children. However, letting “kids stay free” is not such a great deal, when the room has been contaminated with meth lab chemicals.

Source:

“Meth lab found in Cross Lanes motel room”, Charleston Daily Mail, 7/10/09, http://www.dailymail.com/policebrfs/200907090873, accessed 8/22/09

Barren, Amanda, “Hotel to voluntarily close after meth bust”,  WSAZ News Channel 3, 8/19/09, http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/53711037.html, accessed 8/22/09

The Bates Family: Three tours in Iraq and and now a meth lab home

John and Jessie Bates, a newlywed couple from Suquamish, had a healthy bank account, one car loan, and no debt, in 2008. John, 34, had completed three tours in Iraq with the U.S. navy, and came home to find a job as a pipefitter in Bangor. Read more

TX Landlord opts for bulldozer over meth lab clean up

(August 12, 2009) Kory Sargeant, a landlord from Amarillo Texas says he will bulldoze the property he owns at 1904 Greg Street, where police arrested four people for manufacturing meth and child endangerment, on Monday. The meth lab was discovered, after Child Protective Services requested that police investigate the home, where they suspected that children were living in a home involved in drug activity.

When police arrived, they found the home had no running water and the residents were using Read more

Washington listed as top 5 pick for home buyers – beware

Washington state is one of the top 5 places in the United States, where home sales are rising. Although, that’s good news for home sellers, it may not be such good news for home buyers. Before you buy a home in Washington,  find out if the home has a history of drug activity.  Be especially careful when buying a foreclosed home or from a private seller.

How large of a problem is meth in Washington?

“The production, transportation, distribution, and abuse of methamphetamine” are the primary drug threat to the Pacific Region” (National Drug Intelligence Center [NDIC], 2005).

92.3% of law enforcement agencies in the region report that methamphetamine is the “greatest drug threat” in their jurisdictions. (National Drug Threat Survey, 2004).

Methamphetamine has impacted the entire Pacific Region, but Washington has been hardest hit with:

Nearly twice the number of methamphetamine labs reported than Oregon and exponentially more than Idaho and Alaska. (Reports of Read more

ABC World News features Holt family from Winchester TN

August 2, 2009: ABC World News Tonight featured the Holt family from Winchester, TN, who have all suffered health effects from living in a contaminated meth lab home.   If you’ve been following this blog, you will recognize the Holts , who have been in contact with me since they found out they were living in a former meth lab home.

If you missed seeing ABC World News Tonight you can watch their coverage of the Holt family and the meth lab problem in the U.S. by clicking on the blue link above.

If you would like to help Jason and Rhonda, you can send a donation of money to the Jason and Rhonda Holt Fund at Citizens Community Bank. They are facing tremendous financial costs right now that includes paying their medical bills.

Jason and Rhonda Holt Fund
Citizens Community Bank
1418 Dinah Shore Blvd.
Winchester, TN 37398
(931) 967-3342

Operation Arctic Chill freezes meth distribution ring

California / Washington:  Operation Arctic Chill agents found meth, cocaine, cash, and guns, as a result of an investigation of a Mexican drug ring they conducted for 14 months. Washington and California law enforcement agencies collaborated with federal drug agents from the DEA to track and apprehend 31 people, who were involved in a Mexican meth and cocaine trafficking scheme that involved  Mexico, Northern California,  and Washington.  The DEA reports that the drug traffickers bought  meth and cocaine from suppliers in Mexico and California for  distribution in Washington.

Read the press release by the DEA: Read more

East TN Operation FALCON swoops in on meth lab cook

James Winnie captured by Operation Falcon

East Tennessee: Operation Falcon reports that a meth lab cook, named James Winnie,  is one of 242 fugitive felons that they have taken in to custody during their collaborative effort to take some of East Tennessee’s worst criminals off the streets. Winnie was wanted on over 15 outstanding warrants according to the The Hamilton County Sheriffs Department, warrants for crimes that included:  assault, credit card fraud, burglary Read more

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