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In past two days, funny, unusual plastic smell, comes and goes near my house.

I did check everywhere to make sure any appliance wasn't burning a motor or such.
Nothing.

As we have 'interesting' neighbors, spouse googles a bit: plastic smell = crack or meth.

Any way to make that educated guess a bit firmer?
I never had any exposure so this is all new to me.

What's next?
Need to keep an eye on valuables, install some security?
The thing is the matriarch there is OK, and a friend, but she had a litany of marginal nephews living in and out of there, and I don't think she could not rule out bad behavior. The pot smoking and major bonfires were OK, but if this turns out to be what it seems, a whole new concern, here.

If you know her and she's a friend just ask her. If nothing else approach it as a safety concern on her property. "hey, I noticed a burning plastic smell the other day...might want to check and make sure nothing is overheating"

Yeah, that's a bad sign.

I'd call the cops and ask what to do. If it is *ahem* a manufacturing facility, you want it out of your neighborhood for a fairly large tally of reasons.

Could actually be just burning plastic, if not contact the district attorneys office. They will get the drug squad involved with the state police and kick the door in when they raid it. Went through this crap in Scranton and the scumbags got 10 years because of the quantity, and served all 10 years.

I don't know much about crack production, but meth is extraordinarily dangerous to produce. "Cookers" typically cover the smell with cat litter, because the litter absorbs excess fluids and it releases that ammonia smell to cover the smell of whatever poison they're cooking. Meth is cooked in typically rural places - like a trailer in the woods - because they're prone to explode. When I lived in Missouri there was (and may still be) a massive meth problem.

I doubt if there is a "manufacturing" issue, even though someone has parked a camping trailer on the side very near my stockcade fence, so I could monitor that.

Plan:
- observe when and where smell occurs,
Maybe someone getting a hit before work?
- keep an eye on the trailer
Spouse noticed not so clean-cut folks around, the other day.

PoodlesAgain wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 3:02 pm I doubt if there is a "manufacturing" issue, even though someone has parked a camping trailer on the side very near my stockcade fence, so I could monitor that.

Plan:
- observe when and where smell occurs,
Maybe someone getting a hit before work?
- keep an eye on the trailer
Spouse noticed not so clean-cut folks around, the other day.

Probably parked the trailer there to "cook" in it???

Is there anybody burning the insulation off of copper wiring?

It has been quiet, no new smells.

There are other changes going on though, a work crew came and took care of a couple of dead trees and many, overgrown shrubs. We think this is because the house ownership is weird, in-laws involved, and a recent death on that side may have upset the status quo, prompted a call to clean the place up. This may lead to major changes, and these folks do not have much for resources.

Wish I could have more empathy for your situation, but it's difficult for me because I've always had such good neighbors.

Install some motion detection camera's around your lot with smellivision option

That's a touchy situation. If you smell the smell again, you may want to tell the sheriff's office or fire dept. There is always a chance however that people within the dept is in on it. I would probably think about making an anonymous call.

As far as your stuff on your property goes. I don't think I would worry about that so much. If they are indeed out there cooking meth, they are going to want to keep things real cool. The last thing they are going to want is the police coming into the area for any reason.

I should say that these neighbors are not that wild, just that they are not the most stable or smart folks out there.
The smell may just have been the start of the general clean up that, I think, was ordered by who has real ownership of the place.

RokDog wrote: ↑Sun Aug 02, 2020 7:30 am Install some motion detection camera's around your lot with smellivision option

ROKDOG! Glad you are here!!

"these folks do not have much for resources."

Could just be burning garbage. Happens a lot around here.

stacks wrote: ↑Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:51 am "these folks do not have much for resources."

Could just be burning garbage. Happens a lot around here.

Yes. They ARE bonfire people, so they'll burn anything!

The major clean-up of overgrown brush and dead trees by commercial crew is just about complete. We
lost a bit of privacy, but gained a much better view of what's going on next door! Even the junk on the other side of house, the bonfire side, has shrunk dramatically.
I think someone decided to prep the place for a sale.