Bags of Chemicals Found at Dumpster

Several rooms of the Police Department and a parking lot behind the station were sealed off Monday while hazardous materials workers examined chemicals commonly used to make methamphetamine.

A Simi Valley police officer brought three duffel bags containing the chemicals to the station after a passerby discovered them near a dumpster at a pool hall in the 2200 block of Tapo Street.

Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Joe Luna said the chemicals were identified as red phosphorus, crystallized iodine and some sort of acid. The bag also contained several types of containers, including beakers.

“This is just discarded property, and we’re not certain why they’re there and why someone might have left them there,” Luna said.

He added that the material was placed in plastic barrels for safekeeping overnight. Hazardous materials specialists searched the dumpster for additional chemicals.

Today, police will call a hazardous materials disposal firm to remove the chemicals.

Sgt. Gary Collins said police were told to leave the section of the station near the parking lot around 3:30 p.m. With the chemicals sitting in the parking lot, the department’s patrol cars were also moved away, he said.