FBI to Lead Investigation Into Blast at Federal Facility That Could Be Tied to Manufacture of Drugs

The FBI is now leading the investigation into an explosion on a government campus in Maryland that police have said could be tied to the manufacture of drugs.

Chemicals and a recipe to make meth were found at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Building 236, the special projects facility on the Gaithersburg campus, following the July 18 explosion, federal law enforcement sources said.

The federal law enforcement officer who was injured in the blast resigned the following week. The officer said the blast occurred as he tried to refill a butane lighter. He has not been charged.

Montgomery County Police are assisting with the investigation, and the House Commerce and Science Committee has now launched its own probe. That committee has oversight over NIST.

"It's becoming clear we must better monitor those with access to our nation's high-tech research facilities," read a statement from the chairman of that committee.

The blast ripped through a NIST lab about 7:30 p.m. July 18, sending a blast shield flying about 25 feet, indicating a powerful explosion.

As News4's Jackie Bensen was first to report, Montgomery County Police are investigating whether the explosion was related to a small-scale drug operation.

"We are looking at the possibility that this was some sort of chemical reaction due to the manufacturing of drugs," Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks said.

Federal law enforcement sources told News4 that pseudoephedrine, drain opener and a recipe for methamphetamine were found inside NIST Building 236.

NIST Building 236 was previously used for combustion research but is now used for scientific research, NIST spokeswoman Gail Porter told the Associated Press.

NIST, a federal entity that's part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, employs about 3,000 scientists, engineers and others on a 578-acre campus about 15 miles north of Washington, D.C.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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