GOLD BAR — Drug addiction was measured in stacks and piles of garbage and junk on Tuesday.
There was a broken-down van overflowing with food containers, clothing and rusted tools. Dozens of empty propane tanks dotted the overgrown grass.
The skeletons of cars plucked clean of engines, tires and doors were shoved together. Old stoves, ice chests and mattresses were thrown together along with barbed wire, television sets and couches.
The stacks and piles were the remains of a methamphetamine operation that has plagued neighbors, the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and the Snohomish Health District.
"It has been a blight for at least 20 years," said Dorothy Crenshaw, a longtime Gold Bar resident. "You lose a lot of respectability in your community when you have something like that in it."
Tuesday, a crew worked to reclaim some respect for the town and its residents as it started hauling out trash that accumulated over the years on the 3 acres along U.S. 2 near a state fish hatchery.
The lab is one of more than 100 the drug task force responded to in 2003.
Snohomish County seized the property in the fall following a long criminal investigation and legal battle against owner Steven Ray Delvecchio. The Gold Bar man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for making and selling methamphetamine after a deputy caught him coming out of a shed carrying a clear jar that contained chemicals used to make the drug.
It was the first time the county has seized a house in which meth was produced and sold, deputy prosecutor Al Gehri said, adding that the majority of labs are rented homes or apartments.
Junk often accumulates around drug labs, but because this dealer owned the property, the mess was excessive, task force commander Pat Slack said.
Because the county now owns the property, it is responsible for the cleanup. Those involved in shutting down the operation weren’t satisfied with just hauling away the hazardous chemicals used to make the drug.
"We wanted to do it in a way so we give the view of the community back to the community," Slack said.
A team assembled for the cleanup included staff from the county’s solid waste management and road maintenance divisions, the health district and the task force.
"These partnerships are so impressive. This is a huge effort by a bunch of different people," said Jonelle Fenton-Wallace, an environmental health specialist with the health district.
The crew brought in a backhoe to raze outbuildings. The house, deemed uninhabitable, also will be torn down. Nearly 20 vehicles will be removed. The health district discovered an illegal septic tank and had it pumped. A well, covered only by plastic foam, was capped and will be decommissioned.
The flurry of activity was a welcome sight for neighbors, who have suffered through years of drug activity.
"It was a real problem with people coming and going at all hours and things being stolen," said Dave Verlinde, another longtime Gold Bar resident. "I hope they completely flatten it so it doesn’t happen again."
It isn’t clear what will become of the property. It could be sold or used by the county.
"The goal is by this summer you won’t be able to tell there was a lab here," Slack said. "Maybe a family on a trip will be able to pull off, get out and walk around in a field of wildflowers."
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
