BUTLER, Ky. — Residents of a Butler, Kentucky apartment complex are returning home after hazmat teams identified hydrogen cyanide at the building and linked it to a suspected meth lab.
Hazmat teams used a multi-gas detection meter to identify the chemical at Williams Place Apartments, located on Matilda Street, according to a spokesperson for the Pendleton County Emergency Management Agency.
Authorities traced the chemical to an apartment unit and questioned the tenant. The suspected meth lab had been dismantled by the time authorities arrived, according to the EMA spokesperson. No arrests have been made. Kentucky State Police is investigating.
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The incident began when the chemical burned a woman at the complex. One neighbor said the woman is the apartment manager, and she was taking out the trash when the chemical splashed on her near the dumpster area. The woman received treatment at the hospital.
Officials arrived on scene around 11:45 a.m. Thursday, evacuated tenants "as a precaution and for the safety of the residents in the building." They then began decontaminating the building. Many residents, assisted by the American Red Cross, spent the night in a nearby shelter. By 11:30 a.m. Friday, residents were given the all-clear to return home.
We reached out to the Williams Place Apartments management team. They declined an on-camera interview and have not shared a statement.
In a statement on Thursday, Butler Mayor Mason Taylor said, "I want to remind everyone that there is no imminent threat to public safety and that this incident is contained only to the Williams Place Apartments."
