SOUTH POINT — Motorists trying to get home on U.S. 52 Thursday afternoon got stuck in traffic as the highway was shut down after a portable meth lab was found along the side of the road.

A call came into the Ohio State Highway Patrol Ironton Post at 3:30 p.m. that an Ohio Department of Transportation crew had found what they thought was a meth lab as they were walking along the highway picking up trash.

“It was in a plastic pop bottle,” Lt. Barry Call of the Ironton Post said. “We responded to the scene to look at it.”

Determining it was a meth lab, the patrol shut down one eastbound lane of U.S. 52 just east of Delta Lane.

Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Newman responded to neutralize the lab.

During that procedure all four lanes of the highway were shut down for about 15 minutes.

“The problems with a meth lab, whether it is large or small, is they are awfully dangerous,” Call said. “We didn’t know what state it was in. If there was some left, it would have a reaction.”

The lab was neutralized without incident and the highway reopened. Also responding were Perry Township Volunteer Fire Department and Ashland Police Department.