KEY POINTS:
A Housing NZ house in Napier which was used as a methamphetamine laboratory and later demolished because of its contamination may have been operating for seven years, an Auckland forensic scientist told the Napier District Court today.
Nicholas Powell, of Forensic and Industrial Science Ltd, was a witness for Housing NZ in a test case against nine people arrested and convicted on charges arising out of a police surveillance operation in 2004.
The house at 40 Robinson Crescent, Napier, was demolished after Dr Powell found its interior significantly contaminated by methamphetamine manufacturing in the kitchen and an adjacent bedroom.
The house had been cleaned before he did tests on the interior on December 3, 2004, but he found residues still remained from the heavily impregnated walls and ceilings.
The defendants in the civil case before Judge Geoff Rea had used a "cold" method of P manufacture which produced volatile compounds that slowly released into the house, he said.
The mist of harmful compounds released during the manufacturing process represented a particular hazard to children, who absorbed them more easily through their skin.
There were two adults and six children living in the house when police raided the clandestine laboratory on July 28, 2004.
Housing NZ is claiming $180,000 in damages from nine people involved in the drug manufacturing at the house. They are Richard Te Rure, Donna Wilson, Craig Otter, Jason Scully, Regina Smith, Paul Smith, Gregory Olsen, Craig Bryan and Joanna Te Rure.
Richard Te Rure, described as the "mastermind" behind the operation by a police witness, was jailed for 10 years for his role in the manufacturing and supply of methamphetamine, after he and other defendants appealed their original sentences.
The remainder are serving prison terms ranging from nine to four years and three months.
Dr Powell said he had given Housing NZ two options in his forensic report. The first was to completely ventilate the house for three days before stripping and removing all contaminated wall linings, ceilings, windows and surrounds, doors and flooring.
The work would have to be done in full protective clothing under the supervision of an experienced scientist and the removed materials safely disposed of.
All above-ground wastewater pipes would have to be removed and any contaminated soil below and around the house removed.
The second option was to demolish the house, which was done later in 2004.
Asked by counsel for Housing NZ, Nick Flanagan, about the extent of the house's contamination, Dr Powell said it was the worst of about 150 illegal drug-making sites he'd attended that used the "cold" synthesis method of manufacture.
"The extent suggested it had been in operation perhaps since the start of the tenancy in 1997," he said.
Senior Sergeant Tony Dewhirst told the court earlier that the methamphetamine manufacture involved corrosive acids and highly flammable solvents whose "aerosolisation" had impregnated the walls and ceilings of the house.
Police believed the manufacture was being done on almost a daily basis, up to five times a week with batches in various stages of processing. Some batches took up to 18 hours a day to produce.
There was extensive chemical staining on ceilings, the lounge, kitchen and a bedroom which was being used by one of the girls.
The case is continuing.
- NZPA
