POLICE: AMMONIA ACCIDENT MIGHT BE RELATED TO METH

Manufacturing Of Drug Up In Carolinas

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH - An ammonia spill at a water treatment plant near
Barefoot Landing might be the result of an attempted theft for the
purposes of making methamphetamine, police said Thursday.

Ammonia is one of the ingredients used to make the highly addictive
stimulant, increasingly being found in coastal areas.

"We have a suspicion that's possibly the case," said North Myrtle
Beach Sgt. Randy Fisher. "There was evidence found at the scene that
would indicate a theft of the product, and we know that product can be
used for the manufacturing of methamphetamine."

Methamphetamine use and manufacturing are growing in the Carolinas and
spreading from their original base in the mountain regions of the
states. In South Carolina, four meth labs were seized by federal
officials in 2000. In 2003, 42 were seized. A lab was found in a
Myrtle Beach hotel in December and another was found in a station
wagon during a routine traffic stop.

In North Carolina, the problem is worse.

So far 242 meth labs have been discovered in North Carolina this year,
including one in Brunswick County, according to the N.C. State Bureau
of Investigation. Last year, 177 meth labs were found in the state.

Although the majority of meth labs are being found in the mountainous
regions of the Carolinas, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in Columbia
is reporting a growing problem in the Myrtle Beach area.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation is also reporting a similar
spread. So far this year, six meth labs have been found in coastal
counties by the SBI, while none has been found in urban areas such as
Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Durham.

Both North and South Carolina are trying to curb meth use.

Meth labs are a particular concern among law enforcement officials in
coastal areas because of the threat the lab byproducts pose to the
environment. For every 1 pound of meth produced, 5 pounds of hazardous
waste are created. In March, Brunswick County deputies found a meth
lab about 500 feet from the ocean in the Oak Island area.This summer,
the N.C. General Assembly stiffened penalties for the manufacturing of
meth and added meth to the list of drugs that district attorneys can
use to charge someone with second-degree murder when the drug causes
an overdose death.