Ricin cleanup begins at Hatboro apartment

An extensive cleanup is underway at an apartment complex in Hatboro, Montgomery County following a man's arrest for allegedly using the toxic chemical ricin.

Various decontamination companies are at the scene in the 100 block of Byberry Road in an effort to make sure residents and neighbors aren't exposed.

This follows the arrest of 19-year-old Nicholas Helman earlier this year.

Police say he sent a ricin-laced birthday card to the family home of his ex-girlfriend's new love interest.

Crews aren't sure if any ricin is still in the building, but they didn't want to take any chances.

"It's a very toxic material in very small amounts if you inhale it or ingest it into your body," said David Burkhardt of Eagle Industrial Hygiene.

It was back in March when heavily armed SWAT teams surrounded Helman's apartment building before making the arrest.

Investigators later recovered castor beans and sodium hydroxide, two of the main ingredients needed to create ricin.

Helman has since been charged with attempted murder.

Neighbors here say they still cannot believe the allegations against a 19-year-old Boy Scout who always kept to himself.

"I'd sit out on the step with him and have a cigarette every once in a while and the week before that he made Eagle Scout," said Paul McGrath.

Tuesday's extreme heat hampered progress, but members of the hazardous material cleanup crew expect to have the work done by noon Wednesday.

"When the process is done, there will be no more hazard associated with ricin in the apartment," Burkhardt said.

Investigators alleged Helman rubbed ricin onto a scratch-and-sniff card in the hopes that his intended target would inhale the toxin.