FOREST METH LAB MAY TAKE OFFICIALS WEEKS TO CLEAN UP

One Arrested In Drug Stakeout

ASHFORD -- The 26,000-acre Tahoma State Forest near Mount Rainier has been
closed -- possibly for weeks -- while officials investigate a hidden meth
lab spread over 2 acres there.

"We know it's days, it may be weeks," Dennis Carlson, with the state
Department of Natural Resources, said of the closure.

The shutdown will give investigators time to collect evidence and remove
hazardous chemicals from the site. Piles of jars, cans and jugs littered
the area, filled with the chemical ingredients for making the illegal drug
methamphetamine.

"This is physically the largest site they've ever seen," Carlson said of
DNR's enforcement officers.

The lab -- based in a plywood shack -- was discovered by one of those
officers, who noticed signs of unusually heavy traffic in the area, said
Dennis Heryford, DNR's chief investigator.

"He saw some cutting signs and went back and found the hooch there," he said.

The officer left the area untouched and returned Tuesday to stake it out,
hiding in the nearby brush.

He spotted two people, a man and a woman, and a dog -- but the dog barked,
blowing the officer's cover. The officer called for backup and arrested a
19-year-old Tacoma woman.

She was being held on $25,000 bail in the Lewis County Jail on charges of
manufacturing methamphetamine, Heryford said. Her name was not included in
a Seattle newspaper report Saturday, and Lewis County offices were closed
for the weekend.

The man fled into the woods and remained at large Friday. His status could
not be determined Saturday.

Meth labs have been a growing problem for Washington. Statewide, law
enforcement officers destroyed 831 of them last year, according to the
Northwest High Intensity Drug Traffic Area, a federal agency tracking the
labs and providing funds to cope with them.

Like most agencies, DNR feels shorthanded in confronting the issue.

"It's a problem that's just getting away from us," Carlson said.

The agency has 400 foresters to oversee its 2 million acres, but just six
enforcement officers.

Their duties used to consist primarily of vandalism, illegal shooting and
timber theft cases, but they're increasingly coming across meth labs. DNR
reported 36 meth-lab sites on state park land last year.

Heryford said the lab in the Tahoma State Forest is one of the largest he's
ever seen.

The green plywood shack was hidden in thick woods just off a dirt road,
miles from the main highway. A tarp and layers of thick branches covered
the roof. Tanks of anhydrous ammonia, a key meth ingredient, were
camouflaged as well.

"This is the second one we've had this year, out in the woods, hidden,"
Washington State Patrol Sgt. Gary Gasseling said.

A State Patrol team responds to meth labs all over the state, and on
Friday, troopers suited up in protective gear to examine, photograph and
collect evidence in the Tahoma State Forest.