METH WASTE CREATING HAZARD

Production Leftovers Pose Fire, Health Risk for Sanitation Workers

ASHEVILLE - The escalating problem of methamphetamine labs in North
Carolina is creating a new danger for sanitation workers.

Methamphetamine is made by cooking household chemicals in a process that
creates hazardous waste. When law enforcement shuts down an illicit
laboratory, the people left to clean up and handle the debris can be
jeopardized by the flammable material and its toxic fumes.

In one recent incident, Greg Watts was using a loader to move trash at the
Burke County transfer station when a fire erupted in the pile of garbage.
Smoke filled the station in seconds.

"I heard it go up like gas would go up ... like poof," Watts said. "I've
never seen anything burn this hot. It's the stuff they throw away from
these meth labs. It is very dangerous, explosive stuff."

A report released last week by Attorney General Roy Cooper said
methamphetamine byproducts -- five to seven pounds of waste for every pound
of the drug generated -- are being dumped along roadsides, in waterways and
into sewer systems.

"We've got not only to be concerned about fire potential, but a more
serious, long-term consideration is how it affects the environment," said
Charles Moody, the State Bureau of Investigation's special agent in charge
for the western district.

The number of labs discovered by the SBI jumped from nine in 1999 to 177
last year. Watauga County led the state with more than 30. In the first
four months of this year, agents have uncovered 108 clandestine labs statewide.

Apart from the danger they pose to neighbors, each illegal lab also costs
taxpayers from $4,000 to $10,000 to clean up.

As the number of clandestine labs has grown, so have reports of landfill
and transfer station fires, according to Al Hetzell, waste management
specialist in the Asheville office of the state's Solid Waste Section.

Since the first of the year, Hetzell said nine meth-related incidents have
occurred in 10 Western North Carolina counties. "We're just seeing the tip
of the iceberg, I'm afraid," Hetzell said.

Mike Gladden, McDowell County's public works director, said his transfer
station workers come across the byproducts of methamphetamine manufacturing
or have a small fire once a month or so.

"We can just about link all of our fire problems to meth materials," he
said. "We're not trained to handle this stuff. If it's got a strange odor
to it, by the time you breathe that much, you're in jeopardy."

Hetzell has been trying to educate solid waste workers about the potential
dangers. He had talked with the workers in Burke County just a couple of
weeks before the fire there.

"It's critical that the people handling the waste know what they are
dealing with," he said.

Watts, the loader operator, said he recognized meth byproducts in the trash
that caught fire.

"It's every week they're busting one of these labs," Watts said. "It is a
real problem now."

He said he was exposed to smoke while trying to get people and the burning
material out of the building. His throat was burned and the fumes made him
sick, but he suffered no serious injuries.

Next time, however, he'll make sure the people are out and not worry about
the building.

"We're not endangering ourselves," he said. "We're not equipped for this."