Meth lab dangers in Virginia

When it comes to buying a house or picking a hotel, we all want to know it's a safe place to stay or live.
But it could contain dangerous chemicals left behind from a meth lab.
According to the drug enforcement administration, 22 meth labs were seized in the commonwealth last year.
That's down from past years
In 2006, there were 23.
And in 2005 we had more than double that with 52.
And while the numbers have gone down, police are worried they might go up again because of stricter drug laws in surrounding states.
And to show you just how dangerous the lingering chemicals can be, Ten On Your Side's investigative reporter Mollie Halpern traveled to the DEA headquarters in Quantico where she got a rare behind-the-scenes look at all the precautions law enformcement must take before going into a meth lab.
These are products you probably have in your home...
"household products such as lithium batteries, solvents, camping fuels, sudafed tablets as the base of the product."
Ephedrine or pseudoephedrine can be used to make you feel better when you have a cold... but it's a deadly prescription when used to make methamphetamine.
The federal government has determined that meth labs like these are hazardous waste sites.
"As an officer just being around the fumes that are produced during the manufacturing process you have acid gases, toxic fumes, poisonous gases which could be deadly."
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, more than 50-percent of police officers have experienced symptoms like coughing and burning eyes from chemical exposure.
Their illnesses, and safety concerns, prompted the D-E-A to establish this training course.
Officers receive both classroom and hands-on training.
I joined officers in a meth-lab simulation... an exercise to prepare them for a real raid.
And give you a glimpse of the dangers to your family, if a meth lab is in your neighborhood.
The D-E-A says walking into a meth lab is the most dangerous job in law enforcement.
Officers must wear hazardous material gear to protect themselves from exposure.
The equipment includes specially-made suits, right down to the tape... which actually protects against chemicals.
Mollie asks:"Double the protection here with the hands?"
Special Agent Jerry Craig replies, "We have an inner glove and an outer glove."
Suiting up also means wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus because of the toxic fumes and the risks of an explosion and fire.
After making sure my tank is full of oxygen...
D-E-A special agent jerry craig helps me put on my mask.
Then, with precautions taken, it's time to raid the simulated meth lab.
Just as in a real scenerio, we don't know what we will encounter.
And, my heart is beating quickly, very quickly.
I can only imagine if i was this anxious, what law enforcement officers fell in a real situation.
Mollie says "it's nerveracking."
It's smokey and dark, so dark i can hardly see my outstretched hands as i feel my way through the blackness.
I hold on tightly to the law enforcement officer in front of me.
Finally, there's light...
We make it out unscathed.
But, we walk right into an "active super lab"-- a lab in the process of manufacturing more than 10 pounds of meth.
Law enforcement officers immediately begin to look for bad buys and booby traps.
Mollie asks: The law enforcement officers have come out of the dark smoky room and theyv'e assessed the situation, what have they found?
Agent Craig says, "They found they have a flammable solvent that is open and they have to fix that problem before they can continue."
Officers address the hazards, and collect evidence.
Then we begin the decontamination process-- the final defense against exposure.
Each part of this suit is peeled off in a certain order, because the decon process is just as important as suiting up.
Craig says, "this is probably the most important step because if you had anything on you, now you don't want to take it with you. so, you really want to get away from it, and this is your last layer of protection for that."
If this had been a real situation, law enforcement officers by now would have dismantled the lab.
But it's the residual contamination that's left behind that could cause health problems for the next person who goes inside.
"Once law enforcement leaves, once we've taken away the evidence and chase the bad guys, we don't know what kind of chemicals are left there."
That means, you could unknowingly walk into the same site-- but withoug protection.
So, when the job of law enforcement ends... health concerns for you begin.
Some additional on your side information we found in researching this story...
Virginia does not have a remidiation law, which means that there is no requirement for any agencies to come in and clean-up the remnants left behind from a meth lab.
The DEA provides a registry with all the addresses where labs have been found in the commonwealth.