SUSPECTED METH OPERATION LEAVES FAMILY FARM TAINTED

DRUGS: After a tenant is arrested, a judge who grew up on the farm
south of Mankato says he'd like to see the once-beloved property leveled.

VERNON CENTER, Minn. - A lot of history has seeped into the gravel
driveway connecting the old barns and sheds on the farm where Judge
Norbert Smith was raised.

There's the oil that has dripped from tractors used to plant and
harvest the 380 acres of tillable land. Champagne was surely spilled
during the wedding receptions hosted on the open grounds, not to
mention the beer and soda that has slipped out of cups and cans
during graduation celebrations, family reunions and other gatherings
on the property.

Then there's the sweat. Pints of it have been left in the dirt and
around the barns over the years while Smith and his siblings were
doing "many hours of maintenance as mandated by the old man."

Smith, now a Blue Earth County District Court judge, was kicking up
dust and soaking in the scenery at his childhood home, which has
fallen into disrepair since it was sold about 20 years ago, when he
revealed what he and his family really want to do with the old farm.

If they had their way, Smith said, an open space nestled up against
the Watonwan River would be the only reminder of the property that
was once a source of pride for their late father, Paul.

"The farm site was my father's life, and he prided himself on
maintaining it," Smith said. "If we had the money, we'd buy it back
and bulldoze it down -- level it -- so it wouldn't be what it is today."

There's a good chance the dangerous chemicals used to make
methamphetamine are now poisoning the ground at the former Smith farm
west of Vernon Center. Brett Bach, 32, a tenant of the farm's new
owner, was arrested in March on accusations he was making the drug.
That was after a neighbor, a mile away, heard and saw an explosion
that blew a hole in the roof of a metal shed at the farm.

The blast and its aftermath jolted current owner Tim Nelson into a
"rude awakening." The construction contractor has been pouring money
into the building site since he bought it. He wanted to finance
building repairs and help pay for the property by finding renters for
the two houses there.

"I was hoping to tinker around and fix it up," Nelson said. "Put on
new siding, replace the windows, all things I do every day. It didn't
work out that way. Now I have no income coming in, just expenses."

His first set of tenants were bad about paying rent. When Bach moved
into one of the houses, he started paying his rent with cash and was
even making improvements to the house. Both were clues, Nelson
learned later, that something suspicious was going on. There were
other clues, too, such as containers for acetone, starting fluid and
pseudoephedrine pills.

One of Bach's first projects was to replace the furnace in the house
he was renting. After the suspected methamphetamine lab was
discovered, investigators told Nelson the reason for the furnace
switch was so Bach could vent the gases from the lab through the
house's chimney.

"It was quite the elaborate thing," Nelson said.

Before the house can be rented again, or even lived in, a lot of work
has to be done.

Nelson was told he has to clean the heating system's duct work, hose
the entire house down, wash the walls and floors with bleach and
refinish or paint all the woodwork.

The septic system has to be pumped and checked for chemicals used in
methamphetamine production, and the well water has to be tested for
contamination.

On top of those expenses, Nelson also has been billed by the Lake
Crystal and Madelia fire departments for the work they did at the
site after the explosion.

A propane tank that had been filled with anhydrous ammonia, a
chemical used for making meth, was being stored in a deep hole inside
the shed. It blew up, turning the cylinder into a flat piece of
metal, hurling chunks of concrete as far as 60 feet and leaving a
gaping hole in the shed's tin roof.

Thanks to problems created by the suspected meth lab, Nelson will
have a hard time selling the property. Just like water damage in the
basement, roof problems or a noncompliant septic system, whether a
meth lab has been on the property is something potential buyers want
to know, said Darrell Hylen, a real estate agent with Wingert Realty
and Land Services in Mankato. The information is now commonly
included on real estate disclosure forms.

Hylen grew up about seven miles north of the Smith farm and owns land
nearby. What happened at the farm is a topic of conversation for
neighbors, he said.

"There's a lot of good people who live out there," he said. "They've
lived out there their whole lives. They don't like seeing this happen."

As agriculture has changed, though, it has become more difficult to
sell the building sites of old farms, said Chuck Wingert, who owns
the real estate business. Farmers will buy tillable land, but they
often don't need the houses, out buildings and storage bins. There's
a demand for building sites that can be used as hobby farms for
raising horses, a few smaller animals or some chickens. But those
buyers usually only need a barn and perhaps a storage shed. They also
want to be within five to 15 miles of town.

And sellers don't want to keep the building sites and rent them out
because of the same headaches Nelson found with getting good tenants, he said.

What has happened to the old family farm has left Smith with a bad
taste in his mouth.

"The place is more than just worn down from neglect," Smith wrote in
an e-mail to family members after his recent visit to the farm.
"People have actively abused it. Somebody is using the place as a
junk yard as there are piles of metal here and there almost at
random. Lots of weeds, peeling paint, missing shingles, broken
windows, etc. The brick house has a sign on it indicating that it is
not habitable due to the hazardous waste, which relates to the meth lab.

"I do not intend to ever return absent winning the lottery, buying it
back into the family and leveling the place."