Reedley city manager under fire following fallout of illegal lab

REEDLEY, Calif. (KFSN) -- As we continue to learn more about the illegal lab in Reedley that contained hazardous materials, chemicals, and medical waste, some community members are questioning why city officials didn't tell them sooner and are demanding answers from Reedley's city manager.

Reedley city manager, Nicole Zieba, says when you are working with state and federal partners, there are certain protocols you have to follow.

One of those was waiting to inform the public as the investigation into the lab continued. Still, their first order of business was ensuring there was never any threat to the community's safety.

"I stand by my decision to not go to the public once we knew that the public was safe, and that was very early on in the investigation," said Reedley city manager Nicole Zieba.

Zieba says it was December 21, 2022, when federal partners started telling city officials to wait to release information until they knew what they were dealing with.

"We were able to get inside that building with air monitors. We checked all of the water systems for the city," said Zieba. "We even tested the sewer system frankly in case there was any constituents that would get into and float through groundwater."

Zieba says they also wanted to keep communication open with Universal Meditech and Prestige Biotech to continue learning what they were doing in the lab. She says now that everything is public, they have yet to hear from the company's consultant.

"Something like this, bad actors that come in the middle of the night, acting under the cover of darkness. They don't want us to know they're here, is so critical for essentially what our code enforcement officer did," said Zieba.

That code enforcement officer is Jesalyn Harper, who uncovered the green garden hose from the building at 850 I Street.

"For me, when I first went to the property back in December, I had no idea what I was going to find. I was looking for an unpermitted business, not an unpermitted lab," said Reedley Code Enforcement Officer Jesalyn Harper.

Harper says to find covid and pregnancy tests, nearly 1,000 mice, chemicals and medical waste through this process has been unimaginable.

RELATED STORY: New details emerge on Reedley lab company's business dealings in Fresno

"As I made contact with the workers on site, red flags started to go up, but I still, in my wildest dreams, wouldn't have realized what was inside the building and what they were actually storing on site," said Harper.

And for those like Carol Urbano, who lives in Reedley just four blocks from the building, it's still hard to believe.

"Just shock, you know I stop by there all the time at the stop sign all the time, and just didn't realize what was going on at that time, just terrible, really terrible," said Urbano.

Urbano says she wishes the public had found out sooner.

"Yes, that would have been very helpful because they have the recycling next door, but you don't think anything's going on inside the plant. It looks deserted," said Urbano.

Zieba says their goal was never to hide information from the public, just to wait until the timing was right.

"For me, at this time, I know there are people that are unhappy with me. I'm sorry they're unhappy with me. I stand by the decisions I made because I made them with the best information I had at the time, and I know that our community is safe to me as a public servant. That's what's most critical," said Zieba.

The code enforcement officer says they plan to finish clearing the last of the furniture in the building by Tuesday, and that's when they plan to give an update on the abatement warrant at the city council meeting.

Officials say they expect the building to be clear by the end of August.

For news updates, follow Brianna Willis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.