METH HOUSE PAST RAISES QUESTIONS

An Abbotsford woman is frustrated - and worried about her family's
health - after unknowingly moving into a home that housed a
methamphetamine lab a month earlier.

Donna Decker moved into a Mt. Blanchard home earlier this month, and
as she began getting to know her neighbours, she learned her new
rental house had been home to a clandestine drug-making lab.

"I don't know that it's safe," Decker said. "No one can tell me about
the health risk . . . I have three small children."

Abbotsford Police Const. Shinder Kirk also questions the safety of a
house that has been home to a meth lab.

He noted that the chemicals used to make the drugs could have seeped
into the drywall or rugs.

"How much residual effect do they have?"

Decker's search for a home was already difficult, as many landlords
don't allow dogs, and she's upset that her landlord didn't tell her
about the home's history.

"I don't understand why there's not a sign out front saying it's a
meth lab . . . if I would have known, I would have kept looking."

While homeowners are now required to tell potential buyers if the
abode had been used for illegal drug production, it appears there are
no requirements that a landlord disclose that same information to a
rental tenant.

The City of Abbotsford has billed the homeowner for policing costs
associated with taking out the lab.

But city officials could not say what type of inspections took place
in the home, and referred calls to the Abbotsford Police.

Former drug sergeant Jules Tessarolo said that, generally, many
inspections are left up to the homeowner.

If electricity had been cut off, an inspection would come into play,
and building permit-related inspections would kick in if the
structural integrity of the house was affected.