METH BUST TAKES ALL NIGHT TO CLEAN UP

ORAN -- A methamphetamine lab with crates full of supplies for making the drug was seized by Scott County Sheriff's Department on Monday.

Boxes full of cold tablets, starter fluid and other ingredients were labeled and carried out of the house at 113 Elm St. all night, Sheriff Bill Ferrell said."Once again, there is no way that I can emphasize enough how large our methamphetamine problem is," Ferrell said. But cleaning up meth lab sites should be simpler now that a storage container for the hazardous waste that they produce is operating at the Jackson Fire Department.

The container, complete with an internal fire extinguishing system, was given to the fire department at no cost by the state Department of Natural Resources. It received its first meth lab from a Missouri Highway Patrol bust in Whitewater on Monday, said Brad Golden, fire chief.

The Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force will be able to make good use of the Jackson container, said Kevin Glaser, coordinator of the task force.

On a tip from an anonymous source, sheriff's deputies went to the house in Oran shortly after 7 p.m. on Monday. The owner of the property allowed them to come into the house and was cooperative during the search, Ferrell said. Many of the raw ingredients for methamphetamine, along with cold tablets soaking in glass jars to extract ephedrine, were present in the house.

Charles Dodd, 45, was arrested and charged with attempting to manufacture a controlled substance, possession of chemicals and possession of ephedrine. He is being held in Scott County Jail on $40,000 bond.

One reason for the lengthy inventory at Dodd's house was its condition, Ferrell said. "I've seen chicken coops that were cleaner," he said. "If it had been the scene of a homicide, we would have been finished with it sooner."Methamphetamine labs typically produce large amounts of waste.

Deputies Bobby Sullivan and Bobby Penrod processed the crime scene. Sullivan worked an additional seven hours overtime to complete the job, while Penrod, who came in early on his night shift to assist, was still completing reports on the arrest Tuesday afternoon.