LIGHTS OUT ON GROW OPS

A Hundred Marijuana Grow Operations In The Township Have Been Nipped
In The Bud.

Specialized grow-op dismantling teams have started popping up in
Langley during the past few months, forced into existence as a means
of protecting expensive marijuana crops and equipment.

In the past three months, a new public safety inspection (PSI) team
has visited 100 homes within the Township that record higher than
normal hydro consumption.

Of the 100 homes inspected so far, the team found evidence in 100 per
cent of the cases that a grow-op had recently existed, explained
Township fire chief Doug Wade.

But in each case, the pot plants, all the high-intensity grow lights
and most of the other equipment were already gone when the crew returned.

That's because the PSI team - which is not hunting for criminal
activity but focused on detecting fire and safety hazards - is
required to issue a warning letter giving the suspects 24 hours to
clean up any illegal activities.

Given warning, the criminals call in these new dismantling teams and
relocate the crop overnight. They seem to view the need for these new
dismantling teams as just another cost of doing business, Wade said.

Since June, this PSI team (consisting of two police officers, a fire
inspector, bylaw inspector and electrical inspector) has used BC
Hydro records to detect residences in Langley where power consumption
is three times the norm or more.

Upon further investigation, about half of those homes prove to have
legitimate reasons for the large hydro use - such as hot tubs,
welding shops, or swimming pool.

The rest did not have understandable reasons, so the team issued a
warning that they would return in a day to inspect the power supply.

The team has visited the full gamet of local residences, from
townhouse and homes in subdivisions, to farms, high-end mansions and
shacks. Wade added that about half of the places were owner occupied,
while the other half were renters.

"They're in your neighbour's house. They're on farms and in
residential mom-and-pop operations. We've found people with federal
[marijuana] licences growing extra for friends," Wade said.

While 100 homes have been inspected in the first three months, and
the group is still conducting between six and eight visits a week,
Wade said he hopes the numbers will decrease. BC Hydro records,
however, show there's no sign yet of the workload slowing.

"We are disrupting the grow cycle," he said. But it's still unclear
if the dismantled grow-ops are relocating down the block, moving to
other community or - more wishful thinking - closing up shop.

The numbers of grow-ops disrupted by the PSI team do not include the
two or three operations a month that are detected when the homes
catch fire, or the multitude of sites being investigated by the RCMP,
Wade said.

"Grow-ops are much more widespread than people think," he said,
admitting: "I've been quite surprised how prevalent it is in the community."

Private residential bills are allowed to be shared with
municipalities under a 2006 provincial safety law that said faulty
wiring was likely to result in blazes.

Langley is one of 15 B.C. municipalities registered with BC Hydro to
receive bills for homes using more than normal amounts of juice.
Neighbouring Abbotsford has been using the figures for three years,
while Surrey introduced a similar inspection team a year ago.

Now, B.C. fire chiefs say it's time to restrict sales of equipment
used for the hydroponic operations.

B.C. has 50 times as many sales outlets as Washington state, and 30
times as many as Alberta, Wade said.

That's why Langley Township council was asked Monday to support a
related emergency resolution being presented by Surrey at the Union
of B.C. Municipalities civic convention in Vancouver next week.

The resolution would require that hydroponic equipment only be sold
to licenced retailers or people with a valid electrical permit.

- - With reporting from the Vancouver Province