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Law enforcement with the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement shut down a methamphetamine lab in North Kenai on June 13.

Two months of investigation lead police to a residence on Sandy Lane just outside Kenai city limits where Sharon Barrickman and Christopher Knopp were arrested and charged with Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the second-degree. The methamphetamine lab was found in the house's master bedroom.

"We identified people who were making suspicious purchases of ephedrine products and we followed up from there," said Sgt. Sonny Sabala with the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement. "It looked like the lab had been there a long time based on the amount of chemicals and by-product."

Sabala said the suspects didn't tell police how much methamphetamine they were producing, but he said a lab like the one found at their residence is capable of producing about an ounce at a time.

Two teenagers, a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, were present when Barrickman and Knopp were arrested, Sabala said. Child Protective Services is investigating their role in the meth operation.

Sabala said officers with the Kenai Police Department participated in the case as well as an officer with the Soldotna Police Department and Alaska State Troopers from the Soldotna post. The Nikiski Fire Department was also there because of the danger associated with chemical exposure and explosions, Sabala said.

There were about 20 different vessels containing different kinds of chemicals at the North Kenai methamphetamine lab, Sabala said.

"Normally meth cooks don't like to get rid of anything," he said. "They can still extract different chemicals from the solutions they produce. If it's a static lab they retain the fluids so they can be reused."

Since the law requiring drug stores to keep a pseudoephedrine log passed, Sabala said there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of methamphetamine labs, but this is the second bust the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement has made in the North Kenai area in about a month.

A patrol trooper contacted three people at Mile 2 of Island Lake Road in Nikiski to investigate a possible third-party custody violation on May 29. Sabala said Michael Adams, 28, Travis Hughes, 31, and Ernest Gallagher, 33, were about to cook another batch when the trooper contacted them. The mobile lab was located in a shed, Sabala said.

A methamphetamine explosion can be lethal, Sabala said, and exposure to the chemicals can cause long-term health problems. Sabala said there have been many instances of people coming across a methamphetamine lab and going through the contents before realizing what it is.

"If they should come across a suspicious container like a tote or a box that has mason jars and chemicals and coffee filters (don't) investigate it, just give a call and have a trooper come out," Sabala said. "We've had children find meth labs on the side of the road and tell mommy (they found) something strange. They couldn't care less who they hurt with their labs."

Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.