The Hollister City Council passed an emergency ordinance June 18 to regulate the amount of butane that can be purchased locally within a 30-day period. The ordinance immediately went into effect.
Butane is used to extract butane hash oil (BHO), also known as honey oil, shatter, wax, and other names. In recent years, an increase in homegrown extraction operations has resulted in devastating explosions.
The California Alliance of Drug-Endangered Children has tracked 41 deaths related to butane hash oil in California between 2011 and 2015. Among those deaths were three children. As of October 2017, four defendants are facing murder charges related to a butane hash oil explosion in a garage in Rio Dell, in Northern California, according to the North Coast Journal in Eureka.
City Manager Bill Avera said a number of homes in Hollister have caught fire due to butane hash oil labs. He said the Hollister Police Department sought an ordinance to limit storage and the amount of sales to individuals.
Avera told the council the ordinance would go into immediate effect upon adoption, while the existing ordinance already on the books is changed to reflect the new limitations. The first reading of the adapted ordinance came before them for approval later in the meeting, with a second reading expected to take place August 6. The improved existing ordinance would then go into effect September 6.
“This is a health and safety issue,” Avera said. “There’s really no need for any individual to have cases of butane stored in their garage.”
According to Firehouse magazine, large quantities of butane, ranging from a few dozen to over 1,000 pressurized 400-milliliter (ml) canisters have been found inside butane hash oil labs.
According to the magazine, “…butane is odorless, colorless, heavier than air, and can be ignited by any open flame from a cigarette lighter, pilot lights, gas stovetops, and electrical arcing. Butane can escape from a BHO lab, migrate low to the ground toward a distant ignition source, and flash back to the BHO lab. The associated flash fire and subsequent explosion can cause significant structural damage. Sheetrock can be lifted from ceilings, windows and doors can be blown out of their frames, and load-bearing walls can be blown off of foundations, resulting in structural collapse.”
At the Monday meeting, Councilman Jim Gillio asked if the city informed local merchants of the impending urgency ordinance and the changes to the regular ordinance already on the books.
“I know there are some requirements [in the ordinance] for them to track who they sell it to,” Gillio said, after studying the ordinance. “Have we thought about any unintended consequences with the vendors?”
Gillio was told HPD had talked to a number of stores. However, as of June 19, employees at Ace Hardware on Airline Drive and Diaz Liquors, both of which sell the same brand of butane, told BenitoLink they were unaware of the ordinance or any requirements to control or keep records of sales.
City Attorney Soren Diaz explained the ordinance prevented unlawful storage of butane by persons who are not a reseller or wholesaler to have any number of canisters exceeding 600ml. The exceptions to the limitations are people who are licensed by the city to operate commercial companies that require greater quantities of butane.
Councilman Ray Friend asked Monday night if the ordinance would ban the sale of butane. He said his cigar lighter used butane. Diaz assured him the ordinance would only regulate the quantity to 600ml for a 30-day period. The city attorney said the ordinance would also require vendors to keep sales records on how it was sold and to whom.
Councilman Karson Klauer said he did not know how much 600ml was. Detective Chris Wells, one of the two HPD experts, told him butane comes in 300ml containers about six to eight inches tall.
Wells further explained that butane sold in stores is refined and targeted toward the production of honey oil. (BenitoLink found that the Ultra Butane Fuel sold at Ace Hardware and Diaz Liquors was only available in 165ml sizes.)
“One of those 300-milliliter canisters will fill a 1,400 square-foot house with enough gas to explode,” Wells said, “and these people are buying it by the case, with six to 10 canisters per case.”
Mayor Ignacio Velasquez asked Wells if he had looked at any pertinent ordinances in other cities. Wells said Hollister’s ordinance was the same as the one in Sacramento County. Velasquez asked if the ordinance addressed a current or future problem. Wells said both. He said 291 illegal butane hash oil labs were found in California in 2017.
“Since 2011, there have been over 140 injuries and 41 deaths caused by these homemade BHO labs,” Wells said. “Just last May, we had our own BHO lab where the suspect had to be airlifted out of here with burn injuries. So far this year, we’ve come across two home labs that are producing BHO. And I’m trying to head off future explosions.”
When the mayor asked if it was possible to tell where the butane was purchased, Wells said it would be difficult to determine because all the stores sold the same brands. He said it would not be possible to stop online sales, but the ordinance would enable the city to do its part in controlling local fuel purchases.
You must be logged in to post a comment.