By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
Maupin Avenue, a quiet 100-year-old neighborhood, is the last place Salisbury Police would have expected to find a mushroom lab.
In fact, when police called the State Bureau of Investigation and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, their guys had never encountered a mushroom lab.
When police and medical personnel went into the house at 523 Maupin Ave. on Wednesday afternoon, they weren’t sure what they had.
But when they found Charles Edward “Eddie” Earnhardt IV lying in the floor near the back of the house, they knew they had something.
“It was obvious they were in the middle of some kind of lab,” Salisbury Deputy Chief Steve Whitley said Thursday. “The stuff was obvious. You could see it and smell it.”
The first item of business was to remove Earnhardt, who was described as obviously very sick. He was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center, where he remained Thursday.
Police, medical personnel and firefighters came out with their throats burning.
A drug officer then checked out the house, trying to determine what they faced.
“He backed out and we sealed the house,” Whitley said.
After police got a search warrant and donned hazardous material suits and breathing apparatus, they re-entered the house.
And that’s when things got really scary.
Whitley said the 8-by-10-foot room that housed the lab was filled with test tubes, beakers and Petri dishes.
“It was like walking into a science lab. It was very impressive the way it was set up,” Whitley said. “He obviously took great pains and pride to set this up.”
Many of the tubes, beakers and Mason jars were full of clear liquids.
Police realized immediately they were dealing with a man who was a pharmacist by trade. His degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was hanging on the wall.
“This man is educated, has the credentials and training. That tends to make you a little more cautious. … Someone learned in chemistry, you don’t know exactly what you are dealing with,” Whitley said.
Police were concerned that some of the vials of liquid could be explosive.
“You go slow when something can go boom,” Whitley said.
The lab was far more than the 1960s-era method of manure-fueled mushroom operations.
The lab included sections of PVC pipe to provide irrigation.
Officers also found notebooks filled with extensive notes providing meticulous detail about the operation.
Officers spent hours carefully working through the lab, gathering evidence.
Mushroom materials were growing in several different stages. The lab gave off a foul odor.
Whitley found the lab fascinating. It was the first time he’s encountered a mushroom lab in 30 years as a police officer.
At the outset, local officers consulted with the SBI and DEA on the best way to approach the lab and process it.
Salisbury officers quickly found they were in uncharted waters. No one had encountered such a lab. Police spent nearly eight hours in the house, processing the lab and collecting evidence.
Whitley thanked the Salisbury Fire Department for “keeping an eye on us.” The Hazmat unit assisted police. Officers who entered the house without protective clothing got showers and new clothing.
They found fungus aspergillus, which is a non-hazardous mold commonly found outdoors. It’s mainly a respiratory irritant that can affect individuals with asthma, sinus problems or weakened immune systems.
Two medical personnel who treated Earnhardt in the house and transported him to Rowan Regional Medical Center were also treated at the hospital.
Frank Thomason, county emergency services director, said the paramedics, Justin Small and Tamara Earnhardt, were working for the Rowan Rescue Squad, which backs up EMS. Both reported headaches and sinus congestion. The squad’s ambulance was also taken out of service and thoroughly cleaned.