Pubdate: Sat, 10 Dec 2005 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 Author: Don Fiorvento Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/grow+operations 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin