Drug lab slug on rentals

true lilly Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:16 am

Drug lab slug on rentals
Linda Parri
From: The Sunday Times
September 03, 2011 6:00PM
42 comments
Drug lab slug on rentals 592559-drug-lab

CLEAN UP: Landlords are being slugged
when their tenants set-up clandestine drug labs
in their properties under their nose.
Source: PerthNow

LANDLORDS are being slugged up to $40,000 to clean up invisible but
toxic chemicals from illegal drug laboratories set up by their tenants.

In some cases, real estate agents say, the costs are so high houses are being demolished instead.

Taxpayers are not being spared either, with at least 14 Homeswest properties used
for labs in the past five months, including one in Wanneroo last month that cleaning contractors quoted $60,000 to clean.

The Real Estate Institute of WA warned landlords to check their insurance policies after questions by The Sunday Times this week revealed some insurers did not cover cosmetic damage caused by drug labs.

There have been 137 labs discovered in WA this year.

Forensic scientist Clint Hampson, who owns Forensic Pathways, a firm that tests
for chemicals released during the manufacture of drugs, said: "It's not a
matter of a cleaner coming in with a mop and bucket and washing down
the walls."

Mr Hampson said he tested three Homeswest properties last week, charging between $500 and $1000 for each.

All three had toxic chemical residue, including phosphene and ammonia gas
and fertiliser byproducts, despite being professionally cleaned, raising the spectre of
tenants living in unsafe homes.

Mr Hampson said the $60,000 quote was for a Homeswest property that had a lab
in a rear shed. Much of the expense was for an excavator to remove backyard
topsoil contaminated by chemical spills and for flushing drains used to dispose of
chemicals.

The departments of Health and Environment and WA Police are drafting more
comprehensive guidelines for the clean-up of drug labs.

A spokesman for chemical clean-up company Tox Free Solutions said:
"There are specific chemical hazards encountered in clandestine laboratories,
which should only be managed by appropriately trained and qualified personnel."

Department of Housing spokesman Steve Parry said clean-ups cost even more
if a drug lab had exploded.

CGU Insurance Australia said its landlords' policy did not cover "cosmetic damage"
such as ruined carpets or stained walls caused by a drug lab.

But RentCover general manager Sharon Fox-Slater said the company's policy did.

She warned owners that "the potential for subsequent liability claims,
if not cleaned properly, is huge".