A police officer conducting a routine patrol found what appeared to be an active methamphetamine lab under the parking lot of a Walmart in New York Monday, according to multiple reports.
An officer discovered a culvert just before 3 p.m. near the Walmart Supercenter in Amherst, WKBW reported. Amherst police Capt. Scott Chamberlain told the news station officers often "look into areas where people could be up to no good."
The culvert ran from a nearby street down under the Walmart parking lot. Police told WIVB the culvert was tall enough to stand in and not secured, meaning anyone could walk into it.
Members of the New York State Police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team donned full hazmat suits before they were lowered beneath the parking lot through a manhole. They found spray paint cans, various chemicals and "a liquid we believe is methamphetamine," Chamberlain told WIVB.
Chamberlin told TWC News Buffalo that despite the chemicals seized from the scene, the lab did not pose any risk to air quality.
"It's not so much the chemicals themselves, it's the way they're mixed and how they're handled," he told the news station. "Once (officers) went in there and saw what they needed to see, it's determined it wasn't a hazard."
Authorities have not determined how long the culvert was used or who was using it.
"This isn't the kind of thing you'd expect in a place like this, that's the bottom line," resident Steve Harding told WIVB.
Police have not made any arrests in the case or identified possible suspects.
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