Drug Lab Remains May Be Polluting Rollins Reservoir

GRASS VALLEY (CBS13) —Hundreds of butane canisters are floating into Rollins Reservoir in Nevada County.

It's a problem that has never been seen before by the Nevada Irrigation District.

Officials say the sharp rise in illegal honey oil labs has led to the pollution.

Kristy O'Dell brings her two children to Rollins Reservoir every summer, and had no idea there were butane honey oil labs"  in the area.

"We swim, we tube we wakeboard, we are in the water the whole time we are here", she says.

Seeing butane canisters floating around in the water is unsettling for Kristy.

"We might take them back and no more swimming for a while."

But, district officials say butane turns into gas when it's exposed to the atmosphere and cannot pollute the water.

The real threat, they say,  is the phosphorous, rat poison, and nitrates that are used to process the marijuana.

Jim Rrollin comes to the reservoir to fish with his brothers and says any foreign object in the water is cause for concern.

"We came here yesterday and the litter is just terrible!"

Jim gets his water supply from the reservoir and uses a special filter to try and keep as many pollutants as he can out of his home.

Jim's brother Ron, is still concerned, and doesn't think the filtration system is fool-proof.

"There probably are microscopic chemicals that the filters may not pickup. Of course it's a concern."

The district is now testing for dangerous levels of those marijuana-making ingredients.