MIDSTATE METH LABS USING FERTILIZER FOR DEADLY MIX

Methamphetamine, the homemade drug that has become the scourge of the
Cumberland Plateau east of Nashville, is slowly moving into western Middle
Tennessee.

But there's a difference in the manufacturing processes between the two
regions. Instead of "cooking" a witch's brew of chemicals on a stove, as
the makers do on the plateau, the self-taught chemists in Hickman,
Humphreys and Wayne counties use anhydrous ammonia, a fertilizer, to create
a heat-producing chemical reaction.

It's called the "Nazi method."

And it's already proved to be a deadly difference, according to law
enforcement.

"She probably didn't even know what hit her. It was that quick," said
Hickman County Sheriff Randal Ward, referring to the Aug. 10 death of Vicky
Denise Harris, 41, of Hohenwald, Tenn.

Harris was killed when a small tank containing anhydrous ammonia ruptured
inside a Pleasantville community garage where Hickman County deputies
discovered components of a meth lab. Another person, Brian Powers, 28, was
able to escape the garage but was seriously injured; his condition was not
known yesterday.

No one has been charged in connection with the case, but the local grand
jury will consider the facts soon, said Ward, who added that it's unclear
whether Harris played any role in the meth lab.

But as far as the Hickman sheriff is concerned, her death should serve as a
wake-up call for his deputies and for "anyone foolish to mess with it."

In drug circles, the anhydrous ammonia process is known as the "Nazi
method" because the Germans allegedly developed the formulation during
World War II as a way to produce the drug quickly for soldiers of the Third
Reich. Meth, also known as "speed," stems hunger and sleep.

The story of the name, as told on several meth-related Web sites, alleges
the drug was a last-ditch effort to turn the tide of the war.

Using anhydrous ammonia, a meth cooker can make a batch of the drug in
about half the time needed by the other primary method, often called the
"red phosphorous" method.

But anhydrous ammonia is only available in areas where the chemical is used
as a fertilizer, for crops such as corn. The name "anhydrous ammonia" means
it's ammonia without water content.

Farmers inject it into the ground to add nitrogen into the soil. But the
caustic chemical, which is stored as a liquid, becomes a gas on contact
with the air. Its fumes burn human tissue, both on the skin and internally.

It requires careful attention, according to Harry Sommers, resident agent
in charge of the Nashville office of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"I think we would say it's not necessarily more dangerous than the red
phosphorous method. They are both flammable and explosive, but it does seem
there are other dangers that are more inherent with the anhydrous. Clearly
inhalation is a problem. They die from it," Sommers said.

"It's something we are concerned with on the law enforcement side, too.
Accidental inhalation is a risk."

In Humphreys County, where 14 labs have been seized by DEA and other
agencies since September 2001, law enforcement have been concerned with the
increase in labs and with the thefts of anhydrous ammonia.

"When we have a grand jury down there, theft cases involving anhydrous
ammonia represent a significant portion of the docket in Humphreys County.
It's not 50%, but it's significant," said District Attorney General Dan
Alsobrooks, who prosecutes cases in that county, along with Cheatham,
Dickson, Houston and Stewart counties.

A commercial anhydrous ammonia distribution center - one that sells the
chemical to farmers - in the southern part of Humphreys County is struck
frequently by thieves, he noted.

"It draws people, and it's driving law enforcement crazy. Despite regularly
making arrests and regularly prosecuting people and regularly sending
people to jail, there does not seem to be a deterrent. They keep coming,"
Alsobrooks said.

In January a tank of the chemical stolen in Humphreys County overturned in
Wayne County, spilling its contents, said Wayne County Sheriff Carl Skelton.

"It put one of my officers in the hospital from smelling it," the lawman noted.

"The meth use is just becoming so great that people are willing to play
around with this stuff. I call it 'bathtub meth.' It's a killing chemical."