Charges against a Lehigh County man accused of operating a meth lab have been bound over for court.

Joseph Giles, 28, of Slatington, was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday before District Judge William Kissner of Palmerton.Instead, Giles waived his right to the hearing and will appear next month for a pretrial status conference in the district attorney's office at the Carbon County Courthouse in Jim Thorpe.Giles faces charges of operating a meth lab; liquified ammonia gas, precursors and chemicals; and illegal dumping of meth waste; as well as two counts each of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance; two counts of delivery of controlled substance; and two counts possession of a controlled substance.He has been recommitted to Carbon County Prison in lieu of $100,000, 10 percent bail.According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by state Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigations Agent Charles Horvath:Horvath received information from a cooperating witness that Giles was manufacturing methamphetamine inside his apartment in Palmerton and was also keeping meth production waste inside the apartment.On June 8, Horvath conducted an undercover buy of meth and Xanax from Giles.During the buy, Giles claimed how he and his "partner" made meth, the affidavit says.On June 9, the cooperating witness advised Horvath that Giles was evicted from his apartment, and his landlord was going to allow Giles to access the apartment on the morning of June 13 to remove his belongings.Due to Horvath being concerned that Giles would illegally dump the meth waste when he moved his belongings from the apartment, Horvath requested for the cooperating witness to obtain Giles' permission to remove the waste from the apartment.The cooperating witness asked Giles, and he agreed.On June 13, Palmerton police officers Trevor Flexor and Randy Smith, as well as state police Clandestine Laboratory Response Team trooper Matthew Tretter met with the cooperating witness.The cooperating witness and his/her vehicle were searched, and no contraband was found.The cooperating witness was then followed by police directly to Giles' apartment, and was observed entering the apartment carrying an empty tote that he/she brought.A few minutes later, the cooperating witness exited the apartment carrying the tote.He/she was then followed directly to a predetermined location where he/she turned the tote over to the officers.Inside the tote were the following items: Two plastic bottles containing unknown solids; plastic tubing with residue; two plastic bottles with unknown residue; a can of camp fuel; a can of drain crystals; a box of salt; three coffee filters with white residue; a plastic bag containing unknown blue solid; pseudoephedrine packaging; and stripped lithium batteries, which Horvath knows are items that are commonly used to produce meth.The cooperating witness and his/her vehicle were searched again, and no contraband was found.All of the items removed from Giles' apartment were taken by Tretter, who then transported them to the state police Bethlehem Regional Laboratory for further analysis.