PORT CARBON - Borough police are still working to identify the green thumb behind the marijuana-growing operation discovered at a fire scene early Wednesday, according to borough police Chief Jon J. Bowman.
When the person is caught, felony charges will be filed, Bowman said.
It took firefighters and police more than two hours to remove the remains of the operation from the second floor of 233 Coal St. It included marijuana plants growing in gallon-sized buckets, an irrigation system made up of 55-gallon drums, chemicals, hoses, lights and packaging material like plastic bags.
"When we have a suspect in custody, we're going to be using that against them," said Bowman, who called in Schuylkill County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Reiley for advice.
Bowman said in his 24 years as a police officer in the borough, this is the biggest drug operation he's come across in Port Carbon.
Reiley said whoever is behind it is rather bold.
"For being in the middle of town in an area where there are a lot of residences, this is the boldest, most intricate grow operation of marijuana that I've seen yet, and I've been working in the DA's office for over 15 years," Reiley said.
Firefighters discovered the marijuana-growing operation Wednesday morning while battling an electrical fire that started at 233 Coal St.
They arrived on scene about 6:45 a.m. and discovered the marijuana operation within a half-hour, said Scott D. Krater, the borough's fire marshal.
Bowman said every room on the second floor was used for the operation, which included more than 75 marijuana plants.
"In situations like this, as a firefighter, your gut tells you you have to proceed with caution and you also have to preserve evidence to the best of your ability, but you also have to extinguish the fire," Krater said.
"We noticed it was suspicious activity. Our local police chief was here so, as far as chain of command, we're going to play it by the book," borough fire Chief Michael E. Welsh said.
When he realized the fire scene had become a crime scene, Bowman immediately started typing a request for a search warrant for 233 Coal St. He got one from the office of Magisterial District Judge David A. Plachko, Port Carbon, by 9:30 a.m.
The two-story apartment house is owned by Dean Vermeersch. On March 30, Vermeersch bought the house from Dale J. Smith for $14,000, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
According to Bowman, Vermeersch said he heard smoke detectors and fled the building.
"He indicated that he is the sole occupant of the home. He rents the second floor out as storage to a person whom he believes is named Gary Rothenberger. There is no written contract or lease of any kind," Bowman said in court documents filed in Plachko's office Wednesday.
Vermeersch could not be reached for comment Monday.
"He's trying very diligently to come up with something to show who the person is he was renting to," Bowman said.
Vermeersch rented out the second floor in October, Bowman said.
"The person paid their rent for October, which was $200. But he's overdue for November," Bowman said.
Once the fire was brought under control about 11 a.m., Bowman worked with firefighters to gather the evidence from the second floor of 233 Coal St. and bring it down onto the sidewalk.
For the next hour and a half, the firefighters put evidence into piles.
The operation appeared to be hydroponic, a process of growing the plants with gravel or liquid.
Evidence included:
- Packaged marijuana ready for street distribution. Bowman said Wednesday afternoon he did not know the exact amount.
- Gallon-sized black, plastic, hydroponic growing containers and tubing. "And there are pumps too, to keep feeding the plants," Krater said.
- Two 55-gallon water barrels.
- Bottles of specialty plant nutrients sold by Cutting Edge Solutions LLC, Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Hydroton-brand grow rocks, which are the size of pebbles. "The ceramic shell and inner pore structure retains moisture and releases it back to your plant's roots as needed," according to Amazon.com.
- 1,000-watt, Agrosun Gold-brand "agricultural spectrum" lamps.
- Lumatek-brand electronic ballasts. "Lumatek digital ballasts are the most advanced lighting solution for modern horticulture. Small, compact and completely silent, these E-Ballasts are able to deliver more lumens while using less electricity than standard magnetic ballasts," according to the Lumatek website at lumatek.co.uk.
- Plastic sandwich bags.
"Anything that looks like it's been specially ordered or specially manufactured for the purpose of grow operations will not be allowed to remain here for fear that somebody else could take it and try to rehab it," Reiley said.
Reiley encouraged Bowman to take samples of each of the parts of the operation, enough evidence to prove its existence.
"The sentencing code requires the number of plants to be calculated because that has an impact on mandatory and minimum sentences," Reiley said.
Bowman is planning to apply for a "destruction order" from Schuylkill County Court to get rid of the rest of the material.