Prior to becoming a toxicology laboratory, the the WSP Toxicology Laboratory was used to produce methamphetamine for training purposes as part of a crime lab. Between March 1, 2018 and June 19, 2019, the methamphetamine environmental contamination potentially contaminated some blood samples during the extraction process, and may have resulted in discrepancies between positive preliminary tests and negative confirmation tests.
Crime Lab Letter Addressed to WAPA
Initial Public Disclosure Toxicology Lab Communication and Audit Review
WSP Toxicology Lab-impacted cases
Produced 10.2020_Email chain AG WAPA WSTC
WSP Meth Contamination: Washington State Patrol provided the documents at this link on October 19, 2020, in response to a public disclosure request. The documents include emails between several organizations, including the Attorney General’s Office, the WSP Toxicology Lab, WAPA, WSTC, prosecutors, and BioClean; contracts; memos; reports; and information about blood tests.
These documents show, among other things, that:
- Cleaning and decontamination of the lab continued well into May of 2020
- The contract with BioClean to clean and decontaminate the lab was approved on an expedited basis because of the risk to safety of WSP Toxicology Lab employees
- WSP Toxicologists discussed unfavorable new coverage and ways to influence it
- AG Shelley Williams knew about the contamination before WSTC and WAPA
- WSTC and WAPA recommend withholding potentially exculpatory evidence from people who pled guilt
- Government agencies are attempting to redact emails that include WAPA, a nongovernmental agency, when responding to public disclosure requests under the theory that those emails are work product and protected by attorney-client privilege.
Meth Contamination at the WSP Lab Timeline: This timeline is meant to help illustrate WSP’s discovery, response, and handling of the 2018-2020 Meth contamination at its blood testing lab in Seattle.