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Landlords in two cities face huge bills after police found P-labs on their properties.
Last week, police found laboratories for manufacturing methamphetamine in houses in Hamilton and Palmerston North.
Kerry O'Rourke, the owner of the house in Hamilton's Newcastle Road, faced a bill from the council for forensic tests carried out to see if his investment property would be knocked over. The chemical process for making the Class-A drug involves toxic chemicals and creates potentially-explosive fumes.
He had been told by his lawyer not to comment during the police investigation.
"The only thing I can say is that I'm devastated," Mr O'Rourke told the Waikato Times.
"I'm just hoping the house doesn't get pulled down."
Mr O'Rourke's rental property housed one of the five biggest clandestine labs uncovered in New Zealand to date. Police raided the property on Thursday , seizing kilograms of methamphetamine, explosives and a pipe-bomb.
Waikato District Council's environmental services general manager Graeme Fleming said tests for contamination would cost thousands of dollars and would take the rest of the week.
The house's sole occupant, a 49-year-old Hamilton man, has been charged with six charges of possession of precursor materials for manufacturing methamphetamine and one charge of manufacturing methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, in Palmerston North, police found a P-lab in the kitchen of a flat they raided on Monday. Three people were arrested.
Palmerston North City Council spokesman Wayne Jameson said environmental health officers had tested the house, and told the owner to get commercial cleaners. The house was uninhabitable until that had happened, he said.
"Unfortunately for the owner, they have to cover the cost for the process and what's more, the fact a P-lab has been in the house will be added to the LIM report, so anyone looking to buy the house in the future will know about it," he told the Manawatu Standard.
"It's just another thing landlords have to think about in this day and age, so it pays to keep a close eye on who you're leasing to, I guess."
According to police statistics, 211 clandestine laboratories were raided and dismantled in New Zealand last year -- the highest number yet found in any one calendar year. Most of which were for the manufacture of methamphetamine.
- NZPA
