ATTORNEY: PERIODIC TABLE, NOT METH

ASHEBORO - Authorities thought they had stumbled onto a meth lab. Asheboro
attorney Jon Megerian said Monday that all his client was trying to do was
collect the elements of the periodic table.

"That was his only interest," said Megerian. "None of it was dangerous at
any time to anybody."

Many of the chemicals Megerian said the man was collecting were hauled away
by authorities last week after Asheboro police - called to check an open
door at his Dublin Square Road apartment - thought they had uncovered a
methamphetamine lab.

Agents from the State Bureau of Investigation summoned for assistance
assumed command of the scene and initially confirmed that the city's first
meth lab had been discovered.

Later, the SBI's bomb unit was called because several of the chemicals
found in the apartment can be used to make bombs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was called to assist, as was a
chemical cleanup company from Tennessee.

Some of the chemicals eventually were taken to the county landfill, where
they were buried and ignited, creating a large explosion, said Asheboro
Police Chief Gary Mason.

But, by Friday morning, SBI agents determined that there was not enough
evidence to pursue criminal charges against the resident, according to a
press release from the Asheboro Police Department.

Mason said Monday that his department does not plan to file any charges
against the man. MiMi Cooper, the Randolph County public health director,
also said on Monday that she envisions no charges from a public health
standpoint.

"The SBI is not charging him with anything and at this point I don't think
EPA is charging him with anything," she said. "And we're not charging him
with anything. We're just telling him he has to abate the hazard, get rid
of the nuisance."

On Monday, yellow crime scene tape still ringed the first-floor apartment
that flanks Dublin Square Road. The front door was padlocked and several
windows were boarded shut. Blue tarps, both in front of and behind the
apartment, covered piles of the man's belongings.

Meanwhile, the man whose apartment was searched has received an eviction
notice.

Collecting elements of the periodic table apparently is not uncommon.

The periodic table is an arrangement of elements - the basic building
blocks of all matter - according to their atomic numbers. It places
elements with similar properties in the same column. Individual elements
are offered for sale via eBay on the Internet.

At least one company, the Red Green and Blue Co. Ltd., based in London,
sells boxed sets of the elements on its website . One set contains 81
elements - all of the non-radioactive elements; two other sets, one with
larger samples than the other, contain all 92 naturally occurring elements,
including the radioactive ones. The least expensive set sells for $724.26,
the most expensive for $1,689.94.

In its Frequently Asked Questions section, the company poses the question,
"Who might be interested in buying the collection?" Among the potential
buyers of an element collection, the answer reads, are school chemistry
departments and scientists.

"Lastly," the company website reads, "the Element Collection will appeal to
everyone who has a sense of curiosity about the natural world."

Megerian said that he does not believe the man needed permits for the
amounts of any material he had in his possession.

Police happened upon the man's large assortment of chemicals Wednesday
night after being called to investigate an open door at the man's Dublin
Square Road apartment.

Megerian said that his client was not at home when the police found his
door open, but that he had arrived on the scene Thursday afternoon - and
had talked with officers by telephone before he got there.

"We're not dealing with common sense," Megerian said. "We're dealing with
bureaucratic protocol. ... That's the bizarre thing about this - to watch
people in 'space suits,' because it's their rules, remove an ingot of zinc,
because it's on the periodic table, as if it's going to explode."

Megerian said authorities created any hazard that now exists when they
removed chemicals from the man's apartment. He likened the scenario to one
that might occur if authorities searched the garden shed at his house,
dragged out a hodgepodge of common household chemicals, such as kerosene
and lighter fluid, and dumped them into a pile. The result might be
considered hazardous or volatile, he said.

"It's absolutely no more insidious than that," he said. "It's people who
didn't know what they had. We're not talking about anything that was going
to explode."

According to a press release from the police department released Monday,
officers entered the apartment to try to determine if the residence had
been broken into - and if there might be victims of a break-in inside.

In the living room, they noticed a "chemical smell." In the bathroom, they
found a white substance that appeared to be cat litter in a few containers.
There was also liquid in a large glass container and a pink liquid in a
plastic tub with green plastic wrap on it. Officers also reported that they
could see several other chemicals in the room. Concerned for their safety,
they left the apartment.

During the search, authorities ordered an evacuation of the surrounding
area because of the discovery of "dangerous and volatile chemicals." While
SBI personnel sifted through what was in the apartment, Asheboro
firefighters in full gear were stationed on the lawn in case there was an
explosion or fire.

Most people were allowed to return home - or reopen their businesses - on
Saturday morning. Residents of the apartment complex were given the OK to
return home at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Cooper said that she heard the resident say on the scene that he had no
intentions of doing anybody any harm.

"I heard him say that he didn't feel like he had done anything illegal or
wrong," she said.

She said that the apartment was "a bad place" for the volume of chemicals -
and the volatility of some of the chemicals - that the man had, which
created a public health risk.

"There were an awful lot of chemical-type containers that came out of a
very small apartment," she said.

"Some of the things weren't labeled either, so it'll take a little while to
figure out what they are."

She said the resident has until the end of the month to get his belongings
out of the apartment.

"We have to make sure there are not residual chemicals in there - and I am
no chemist," Cooper said. "When he gets all his stuff out of there, then
hazardous waste (officials) will come in. Our standard is: Abate the nuisance."

Mason said he was proud of the actions of his officers.

"I'm just telling you that it's abnormal when you go in a place and see all
those chemicals," he said.

"I'm glad that we took the measures we did to move those people because we
don't want to jeopardize anybody."

Megerian called his client an "amateur chemist" who had collected materials
that could be purchased at most building supply stores.

"He just wishes this whole thing would go away," Megerian said. "It's
really embarrassing."