GROW-OP BUSTERS HONOURED FOR HYDRO-WATCH PROJECT

Marijuana grow operators in Surrey are getting a jolt of reality
thanks to a pilot project recognized Friday with a Lieutenant
Governor's Award for Public Safety.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis says the number of grow-ops Surrey RCMP
dealt with rose significantly between 1997 and 2003, as were the
numbers of grow-ops they were discovering due to fires.

Garis said that in 1997, 3.2 per cent of all grow-ops discovered by
the RCMP were as a result of fires. Six years later, that figure had
risen to 5.6 per cent.

"What that said to us is the longer these grow-ops remained in effect,
the more likely they were to result in fire," Garis explained from
Victoria on Friday, where he was on hand to receive the Lieutenant
Governor's Award.

The fire chief added that in 2004 nearly nine per cent of all of
Surrey's structural fires were grow-op related.

With the obvious need for a response, a provincial task force was
struck that identified marijuana grow-ops as an electrical safety
hazard and launch of the pilot project followed in March.

A team of fire and police officials, as well as an electrical
inspector, spent 26 weeks acting on police tips regarding potential
grow-ops by filing freedom-of-information requests to learn of
abnormal power use in a home.

"The average Surrey home at this time of year uses 1,500 to 2,000
kilowatts (per two-month billing period). Some houses we're going to,
have as much as 20,000 kilowatts per billing period," Garis said.

Once a house is identified as the potential grow-op site, the
homeowner is served with notice of an inspection. They have 48 hours
to respond before the power is cut off. Usually, they do respond,
Garis said, but often the grow-ops have been removed.

"In 94 per cent of the cases, the locations we attended had
compromised electrical systems requiring the power to be
disconnected." So far, the team has disconnected 145 locations where
the power systems were compromised.