METH WASTE BEING LEFT IN DITCHES, OFFICIALS WARN

(Madison) - Drug dealers concocting the highly addictive drug
methamphetamine in backwoods labs are endangering a new category of
people: road crews and volunteers who gather litter along highways,
law enforcement officials say.

Until now, the primary concern about the highly toxic waste from the
labs was the danger it poses to landowners who discover the abandoned
sites and the authorities called to investigate. But authorities say
meth lab workers have started pouring the waste into containers and
dumping them into highway ditches.

Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley said several thermos bottles and
water containers filled with the residue have been found along roads
there.

State Rep. Stephen Freese (R-Dodgeville) said he plans to introduce a
bill within the next week that would impose harsh penalties for
possession or disposal of waste from the manufacture of
methamphetamines, setting maximum penalties of seven years'
imprisonment and a $100,000 fine for a first offense.

"When you mix things like isopropyl alcohol with acetone and ether,
drain cleaner . . . along with muriatic acid and so forth, that
concoction can put off a very, very toxic residue," Pedley said.

"Unfortunately, our highway cleanup people come along and see this
thermos container, and they may take the lid off," he said. "Very,
very toxic fumes from the container can cause severe and permanent
injuries to their lungs, if they happen to breathe in the
contaminants."

Attorney General James Doyle supports Freese's efforts to increase
penalties for possession or disposal of meth waste, spokesman Jim
Haney said, and was helping to draft the bill.