# NIST police lieutanant charnged with cooking meth in NIST **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190 "2015-08-18T17:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/1 "2015-08-18T17:19:22Z")
> [@](#): > > [http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2015/07/breaking-bad-nist](http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2015/07/breaking-bad-nist) > > On Saturday, 18 July, an explosion rocked the [National Institute of Standards and Technology] campus around 6:45 p.m., injuring the security guard and sending the institute’s fire and police forces flocking to the scene, Starks said. The explosion happened at “special projects” building 236, a smaller facility with laboratories reserved for particularly hazardous research. According to NIST spokeswoman Gail Porter, the lab in question was not in use at the time of the incident, but was transitioning from combustion research to a new project. > > The guard, who [might have been involved] suffered non–life-threatening burns, resigned on 19 July, Porter said. Turns out [not only was the injured guard involved, he’s a supervisor](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christopher-bartley-former-police-officer-charged-after-explosion-federal-lab-n411841)! ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/2 "2015-08-18T17:37:28Z")
Huh, that’s right across the street from where I live. I was out at that time, but I’m surprised I didn’t hear anything else about this. I always knew something was going on behind those fences. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/3 "2015-08-18T17:41:16Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > Huh, that’s right across the street from where I live. I was out at that time, but I’m surprised I didn’t hear anything else about this. I always knew something was going on behind those fences. I used to live right down Rt 28. I remember when it was the Bureau of Standards. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/4 "2015-08-18T19:16:57Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I used to live right down Rt 28. I remember when it was the Bureau of Standards. Wait…the Bureau of Standards _changed_? Is that even legal? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/5 "2015-08-18T19:32:39Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Wait…the Bureau of Standards _changed_? Is that even legal? 😕 It’s not National Institute of Standards and Technology. They have a massive campus, full of deer that like to sometimes jump the fence and get hit by cars. It’s been that for at least 10 years as I’ve lived there for that long. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/6 "2015-08-18T19:39:39Z")
Hey, we need a traceable standard for meth. The guy was just trying to help. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/7 "2015-08-18T19:54:41Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > > [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > > > Wait…the Bureau of Standards _changed_? Is that even legal? 😕 > > It’s not National Institute of Standards and Technology. … Well if it’s not the Bureau of Standards and it’s not the National Institute of Standards and Technology, when what is it? Probably not lupus or the Spanish Inquisition either; it’s never one of those. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/8 "2015-08-18T22:18:39Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Hey, we need a traceable standard for meth. The guy was just trying to help. Nice. Stratum-0 stimulants. Take that, Heisenberg! ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/9 "2015-08-19T12:57:25Z")
What unit of measure does one use for “Meth-ness?” ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/10 "2015-08-19T13:19:13Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > What unit of measure does one use for “Meth-ness?” The NTSC-50. It’s the average number of months, for that particular batch of meth, until the user has no teeth and sunken cheeks. “Dude, I scored some meth with a NTSC-50 of 3!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nist-police-lieutanant-charnged-with-cooking-meth-in-nist/728190/11 "2015-08-19T21:26:02Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Hey, we need a traceable standard for meth. The guy was just trying to help. According to Bartley’s lawyer, this isn’t far off the mark. > [@](#): > > [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/feds-police-officer-at-government-science-lab-tried-to-cook-meth/2015/08/18/e2f1851c-45c1-11e5-8e7d-9c033e6745d8_story.html) > > “He was conducting an unauthorized training experiment, which failed,” said Steven VanGrack. > > His attorney said that in the past, Bartley had conducted training exercises for other NIST officers and that this is what he says was his intention — once he learned more about the drug. > > “He was trying to understand more about this substance,” VanGrack said. “He wanted to see how to make it.” > > The attorney said that the meth making was Bartley’s first such effort, that he did it alone and that he did not intend to use or sell his product. VanGrack said investigators found less than 5 grams of chemical evidence.