METHAMPHETAMINE MENACE

The production of methamphetamine is an explosive problem -- both
literally and figuratively -- in Southeast Tennessee and North
Georgia, law enforcement officials said.

"It's become a serious problem and it's increasing rapidly," said
Agent Dave Shelton of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in
Chattanooga.

In Georgia, legislators want those convicted of manufacturing
methamphetamines to help pay the high cost of meth lab cleanups. State
Rep. Bobby Parham, D-Milledgeville, sponsored a bill that would fine
those convicted of manufacturing meth up to $30,000. Federal officials
spend an average of $30,000 cleaning up hazardous chemicals each time
a lab is shut down, he said.

But Chris Hill, commander of the Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force,
said offenders would never be able to cover the cleanup costs.

"It's a good idea, but I don't think it will ever work," he
said.

Methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant often called "poor man's
cocaine," is known by a number of street names including crank and
speed. Ingredients used to make meth can be bought legally at hardware
and grocery stores. A "cooker" can turn a $100 investment in materials
into about $1,000 worth of the illegal drug in a matter of hours,
officials said.

Officers with North Georgia's Lookout Mountain Drug Task Force --
which covers Dade, Walker, Catoosa and Chattooga counties -- said they
have seen the number of meth-related cases double since last year. On
average, agents are beginning a new investigation every day into the
manufacture of the illegal drug, local drug enforcement officials said.

According to the Chattanooga DEA office, 172 labs were seized in the
task force's 17-county operating area of Tennessee last year. This
year officers have seized 240. In the task force's Georgia area of
operations, the number climbed from 51 last year to 81 this year.

Agent Shelton said the meth problem surfaced in this area about five
years ago.

"It is generally a rural thing, but not anymore. As evidenced by the
Mountain Creek Road bust, it's everywhere."

On Feb. 21, three people were arrested when Chattanooga police
officers found a meth lab in a unit at Signal View Apartments on
Mountain Creek Road. William "Moby" Dick, 49, of Chattanooga and Bryan
Ritchie, 22, and Krystal Layne, 30, both of Dunlap, Tenn., were
charged with criminal attempt and conspiracy to manufacture meth and
possession of paraphernalia.

Detective Gene Hargis of the Marion County Sheriff's Department said
children often are endangered when the drug is made.

"In two out of five labs you have children present, or children living
there," he said.

On Feb. 17, 1-year-old Shelton Hicks was severely burned over more
than 30 percent of his body when a meth lab exploded at 145 Nason St.
in Catoosa County, authorities said.

Mr. Hill said the incident has raised awareness of the problem in
North Georgia. Labs have blown up in the past, but there have been
only minor burns before this, he said.

"Every lab that's out there has a potential of doing that. People
don't realize that," he said. "It could blow up and burn the whole
neighborhood down."

The child's parents, Suzette Callaway, 27, and Christopher Hicks, 28,
are both in custody charged with manufacturing meth. Authorities are
searching for two other people, Lance and Connie Rockholt, said
Catoosa County Detective Teresa Wengert.

Shelton is at Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati.

"He is listed in critical but stable condition," Detective Wengert
said. The child has had skin grafts to his hands and arms, and pins
placed in his fingers.

"The injuries are still very life threatening," she
said.

The substances used to make meth, like lantern fuel, alcohol and
certain fertilizers, are not dangerous by themselves. But they become
volatile when mixed together, Agent Shelton said.

"It's like the old paint in your basement that you're never going to
use," Agent Shelton said. "You wouldn't go pour that out on the
ground. You're supposed to dispose of it. Substances used to make meth
are the same kind of thing. It's an environmental issue."

Agent Shelton puts a lower price tag than Georgia officials on
cleaning up small meth labs.

"A lot depends on the location of the lab and how much hazardous
materials are actually there," he said. "A good average is $3,000 to
$4,000, but there may be a $10,000 cleanup in there."

The DEA has contracts with companies around the country that
specialize in cleaning up and disposing of hazardous materials, Agent
Shelton said.

For the last couple of years, the DEA office here has contracted with
Environment Management Inc. out of Guthrie, Okla. EMI subcontracts
with five companies in the area that remove the dangerous chemicals,
Agent Shelton said.

A spokesman for a local company involved in cleaning up meth labs for
the DEA spoke with the Times Free Press about the process. His
identity and the name of the company are concealed for security reasons.

The company responds to about 18 meth lab sites a month, the spokesman
said. The largest cleanup, in the Sequatchie Valley, involved 20
containers of various sizes and took about 20 hours, he said.

Typically, a crew of three workers will go to the site of a meth lab
to remove the substances. The workers wear chemical protective suits
and have self-contained breathing apparatus available if needed.

The cleanup crew never handles any "finished product," the spokesman
said. "The DEA guys take the lab down," he said. "Occasionally, if the
bad guys are in a hurry, we find stuff lying around on the ground."

Crews received intensive training, completing a minimum of 40 hours of
hazardous materials waste operations training and fulfilling
Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements, the
spokesman said.

"Remember, we are just one of five companies," the spokesman said.
"This area is very aggressive in prosecuting people making meth."