BILLINGS — Just 48 hours after methamphetamine smoke sent 14 animal shelter employees to the hospital and forced the evacuation of dozens of animals, the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter remains closed, contaminated, and uncertain about when it can reopen.
Watch to see how the animal shelter is moving forward:
The building, which is owned by the City of Billings and houses a city-operated crematorium, became contaminated Wednesday after a drug incineration conducted by the FBI went awry, according to Assistant City Administrator Kevin Iffland. A malfunction involving negative air pressure caused toxic smoke to backdraft into the shelter, exposing staff and animals to methamphetamine residue.
Related: Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter staff frustrated after exposure to FBI meth incineration
Now, the building is uninhabitable, and the full scope of the damage remains unknown.
"We have no idea of how much we've lost," said shelter board member and attorney Frans Andersson. "We don't have inventory at the moment of what was in there.”
Billings-based company Newman Restoration has been hired to assess and clean the facility. Their work began this week with air quality testing, which is being analyzed by an industrial hygienist before any remediation can begin.
“This is a unique situation and project," said Andrew Newman, owner and CEO of the company. "Typically, what we'll see is more on the residential side with, you know, kind of a meth lab that either caused a fire or triggered some type of needing remediation. With this being a larger commercial facility and what the intentions were, it makes it a unique situation and cleanup.”
The methamphetamine smoke poses an interesting challenge, as the substance can permeate through porous materials such as drywall, insulation, wood, sheetrock, and textiles. Some walls may need to be removed and rebuilt, and any animal food in bags, towels, worn clothing, or employee belongings must be discarded.
“The smoke or the substance can permeate into absorbent building materials, and so when that happens over time, it's continuously off-gassing, and it's recontaminating the atmosphere," said Newman. “I think what we're going to find is where the source originated, those building materials are going to be impacted probably to the point where a lot of that stuff's going to have to be removed and rebuilt."
Newman expects the lab results to come back by next week. If the air quality is deemed stable, the team is given a cleaning protocol. Restoration could take anywhere from 10 days to over three weeks, depending on how extensive the contamination is. After remediation, the hygienist will then come in again to reassess for a clearance test.
Along with safety gear, specialized equipment is required. Some methods include the use of charcoal-filtered air scrubbers, specialized air disinfectant, and a Scientific Air Management (SAM) unit that constantly filters air.
"We use a product called hypochlorous acid. It's a fog that we can fill up that contaminated space with that actually disinfects the air that we breathe up to 99.995%, and it also will help disinfect horizontal and vertical surfaces," explained Newman.
While the restoration staff assesses the building, the shelter is still finding a way to operate.
Fourteen employees were hospitalized and treated in hyperbaric oxygen chambers after suffering dizziness, headaches, and respiratory distress. Andersson said employee and animal safety are top priorities as the facility remains closed.
"We had an all-staff meeting last night, and we talked about the importance of getting medical care, not ignoring symptoms," said Andersson. "YVAS employees are going to be paid for the shifts that are scheduled for, and they're going to be on an on-call basis."
While no animals were harmed in the incident, all were removed from the facility and decontaminated. Some were placed in foster homes, others at partner veterinary clinics, and nearly two dozen cats are now temporarily housed at the shelter's Learning Center on Grand Avenue.
"The challenge is the need we serve to shelter homeless animals continues. Just because we don't have a shelter doesn't mean there aren't animals," said Andersson. "In the meantime, we are exploring a number of options throughout town to stand up a temporary shelter facility."
The contamination has also paused veterinary procedures and animal intake.
"In the short term, we're kind of unable to accept animals at the shelter location like you have in the past," said Andersson. “If the public thinks they have a need that the shelter would historically serve, first of all, don't go to the shelter until further notice. You can call the shelter to see if we can help you identify services. If it's an animal, you can call animal control, and they can help you find services."
The building, which is owned by the City of Billings and leased by the nonprofit, has long raised concerns for the shelter's leadership. Shelter Director Triniti Halverson told MTN Thursday that she had flagged issues with the crematorium multiple times over the past two years.
Now, Andersson said he is in direct contact with city officials to get clarity on what was incinerated, the severity of the exposure, and how to move forward.
"They're a stakeholder in this," said Andersson. "They have a building that's potentially pretty smoked out, but we want to work with them to kind of get back on our feet, get the building open again.”
Newman urged that safety is their biggest concern, and the company will work with urgency and precision.
"Our top priority is performing the remediation safely, efficiently, without compromising the end goal of reestablishing a safe and healthy indoor environment," said Newman. "I want to be very clear that all parties involved are taking this matter very seriously, and we're all committed to doing the right thing.”
Until the test results arrive and a cleaning plan can be implemented, the shelter remains closed. In the meantime, the shelter is relying on community support, volunteers, and local clinics to continue helping animals in need.
"At the moment, we're going to continue to provide that service as best we can, but there's a lot of things up in the air," said Andersson.
