$20K wasted on meth cleanup
A BALCLUTHA landlord is frustrated after he spent nearly $20,000 cleaning his methamphetaminecontaminated rental property, only to hear this week that it was not necessary.
Mark Cowan’s Balclutha rental property was believed to be the first in South Otago to test positive for meth contamination after a previous tenant smoked the class A drug, also known as P or Ice, at the property.
Following testing, he was devastated when told the level of contamination was such he would have to have all the carpet and wall linings removed, and everything else would need to be decontaminated with special chemicals by cleaners wearing hazmat suits, to meet the standards for rerenting and safe living.
Mr Cowan said his insurance company would not cover the cost so he paid for it out of his own pocket.
He said he also lost income because he was unable to rent the property until the cleaning was complete.
However, earlier this week, the Prime Minister’s chief science adviser, Prof Sir Peter Gluckman, produced a report for Housing Minister Phil Twyford which said there was no evidence that ‘‘thirdhand exposure’’ from methamphetamine smoking caused adverse health effects.
The report showed levels that exceeded the present standard of 1.5mcg/100sq cm should not signal a health risk, and exposure 10 times higher (15mcg/100sq cm) would also be unlikely to have any adverse effects.
Sir Peter said remediation, in most cases, was needed only in homes that had been former clan labs producing the drugs and where meth was heavily used.
Mr Cowan said that would have been good to know before he spent nearly $20,000 decontaminating his rental property this year.
‘‘I’m disappointed and frustrated. It’s added insult to injury that I’ve spent all this money, and it turns out I didn’t have to do it.’’
Despite his anger, he was pleased landlords across the country would not have to go through the same anguish that he had.
Mr Twyford said the report, along with the 1.5mcg/100sq cm cleanup standard (NZS 8510: 2017), would contribute to any regulations that may be made under the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2), soon to have its second reading in the House.
A public consultation document on meth regulations was expected to be released later this year.