"The only possible spokesperson was on vacation ....."

More than 1,000 metric tonnes of asbestos removed from West Block, Wellington Building since end of August

Both the West Block and the Wellington Building are currently in htre demolition phase of their restoration work

By LAURA RYCKEWAERT Monday, November 28, 2011

While the Canadian government continues to block the inclusion of chrysotile asbestos from a UN agreement on hazardous materials, millions of dollars are being spent to remove the controversial substance from the Parliamentary Buildings and since August 31, a combined total of more than 1,000 metric tonnes of asbestos have been removed from the West Block and Wellington Building, says Public Works.

Both the West Block and the Wellington Building are currently in the demolition phase of their restoration work—which includes the abatement of hazardous materials. It’s part of a massive, multi-billion dollar, much-needed facelift for the entire Parliamentary Precinct not set to wrap up until renovations to Centre Block are complete in 2032, according to Public Works.

The demolition work currently underway on the West Block began last March, and includes work on the building’s interior and north towers, in addition to asbestos removal. The West Block building was emptied for construction work as of January, but had previously been home to 50 offices, seven committee rooms, a food production facility, the massive West Block cafeteria, and Room 200, the grand ballroom, as well as other rooms and facilities.

In February, the contract for demolition work on the building was awarded to the Ellis Don Corporation. The contract for the first phase of work on the West Block is worth approximately $358.5-million, with the total cost for the building’s restoration anticipated to be $863-million, according to Public Works.

In mid July, a communications officer for Public Works told The Hill Times in an email that, “most of the interior demolition and abatement of hazardous materials remains to be completed.”

The work required to restore the 1920s-era Wellington Building is much more extensive, with the building requiring a full seismic upgrade in addition to other work. The first stage of demolition work on the Wellington Building, which began in April 2010, and is set to finish in the fall of 2012, includes the abatement of hazardous materials. The contract is worth almost $40-million.

According to Public Works, the contract for this first stage of work was awarded to PCL Constructors following a competitive tender process.

However, special training is required for asbestos removal workers and supervisors. A waste management system that has an environmental compliance approval for asbestos waste from the province must be employed to transport the waste. Because of this, asbestos removal work for the West Block and Wellington Building is instead being subcontracted out to provincially-approved and licensed asbestos-waste haulage companies.

Inflector Environmental Services and Asbex Environmental Contractors are working in a joint-venture under the name of Inbex Environmental Services to remove asbestos from the West Block Building, said Public Works. Amor Construction, located in Vanier, is the asbestos abatement subcontractor hired for the Wellington Building.

Canada is a major exporter of chrysotile asbestos to developing countries and is currently the fifth largest producer in the world.

But last week, for the first time in 130 years, Canada’s asbestos industry suspended production when work was stopped indefinately earlier this month at the Lac d’amiante du Canada operation in Thetford Mines, Quebec. This follows production stoppage at Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec.

On Parliament Hill in recent weeks, the opposition parties have been seeing cracks in the Conservative caucus’ stance on chrysotile asbestos, with a number of Mr. Harper’s MPs seemingly having second thoughts about their hard-line support of the mineral.

There exist two basic forms of asbestos: serpentine and amphibole. Since the 1980s, amphibole asbestos has universally been seen as deadly resulting in a global ban of the substance. Chrysotile asbestos, a member of the serpentine family, is currently banned in more than 40 countries.

The Hill Times asked Public Works what kind of asbestos was being removed from the Parliament Buildings and was told: “Various types of asbestos are being removed from the West Block. All asbestos is being removed.” Public Works also provided the same response for the Wellington Building.

NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba) said he believes tremolite, a member of the amphibole group, is likely one of the asbestos types being removed from West Block.

“The type of material they were spraying onto the higher beams in West Block is called Monokote and it is loaded up with tremolite asbestos, which is one of the most virulent and deadly forms of asbestos…,” said Mr. Martin, who has been outspoken on the issue of asbestos since being elected to the House in the 1997.

The World Health Organization considers asbestos to be a proven human carcinogen.

According to Health Canada, “asbestos poses health risks only when fibres are present in the air that people breathe. If fibres are disturbed and become airborne there can be potential health risks.”

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Because the removal of asbestos almost unavoidably causes dust, or fibres, to become airborne, the process is highly regulated to avoid inhalation by workers.

Before revelations over the mineral’s lethal nature spread in the 1970s, asbestos was popularly used in construction and insulation work because of its high resistance to fire.

According to the International Chemical Safety Card for chrysotile asbestos, the substance is heat-resistant up to 500 degrees Celsius.

The Hill Times attempted to speak to the three companies subcontracted to remove asbestos from two of the Parliamentary Precinct’s buildings to no avail. Inflector and Amor Construction both declined to comment and said questions concerning the project should be referred to Public Works. Asbex said the only possible spokesperson was on vacation. (emphasis ours)

According to a case study posted on Inflector’s website, one of a number of project summaries posted by the company, asbestos abatement for West Block “was performed with supplied air systems, using secret-cleared employees required for the high security national profile sit. In addition, the work was performed in confined spaces and working on elevated platforms, requiring fall protection at all times.”

When questioned about the specific cost of the asbestos removal work for each building, Public Works only said: “The cost of removing hazardous material is included in the costs of rehabilitating the buildings.”

Since August 31, 1,341 metric tonnes of “hazardous materials” have been removed from the Wellington Building and taken to an approved landfill, and since Oct. 1, 97 metric tonnes has been disposed of from the West Block, said Public Works in an email to The Hill Times. The total is 1,438 metric tonnes or 3.17-million pounds of asbestos.

“The aggregate weight of material is composed of hazardous materials as well as contaminated building products such as plaster, terracotta brick, insulating compound drywall etc.,” wrote Public Works.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, asbestos waste is classified as “commercial waste,” meaning it could potentially be taken to any landfill site approved to accept commercial waste.

The City of Ottawa has its own bylaw regarding the disposal of asbestos which, for the most part, echoes the province’s, but with a slight difference—in Ottawa, asbestos is classified as “special waste,” though it is treated the same as commercial waste.

Kate Jordan, a spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, said asbestos is classified under the umbrella of “commercial” because of “how it comes about.”

“Although not classified as hazardous [waste] in Ontario, we have special rules on how asbestos must be handled, transported, and managed to ensure it does not pose a risk to the local environment and community,” said Ms. Jordan.

Ms. Jordan said according to Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act, generally speaking, hazardous waste is defined as containing chemicals or chemically treated, reactive or corrosive.

Asbestos isn’t considered to fit under this category and, instead, special rules are in place.

Landfills that choose to accept asbestos as part of commercial waste are required to follow a regulated process for disposal, a process which must be carefully catalogued by the landfill in order for the province to ensure compliance, said Ms. Jordan.

In Ottawa, there are currently three landfill sites approved by the province to accept commercial waste: the Navan road landfill, owned by Waste Services Inc., the Trail Road landfill, owned by the City of Ottawa, and the Springhill landfill, also owned by the city.

According to Ms. Jordan, the Springhill landfill, not wanting to deal with the added cost and safety measures involved, chooses not to accept asbestos waste. Ms. Jordan said the West Carleton landfill on Carp Road—a landfill approved for commercial waste—used to accept asbestos waste but is now closed, having reached capacity.

The regulations and level of health risks aren’t universal to all asbestos removal efforts. There are three “types” of asbestos removal work, as defined in Ontario by the province’s Canadian Environmental Protection Act. In short, “type 1” work involves the removal of non-friable asbestos-containing material, and while safety regulations are still in place, it’s a comparatively safer process. Work being done on the Parliament buildings is not “type 1” work as it involves friable asbestos removal meaning it instead falls under the "type 2" or "type 3" classification.

Non-friable asbestos means exactly what it sounds like: asbestos fibres are bound tight within the material (roofing tiles for example) and are not easily free-able. Because it is asbestos dust—airborne fibres—that present the health risk, non-friable asbestos is considered safer to handle. However, non-friable asbestos could still produce dust if damaged.
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Asbestos waste being removed from both West Block and the Wellington Building is being disposed of at the Navan Road landfill, an approximately 11-mile drive from the Parliamentary Precinct.

Mr. Martin expressed surprise over Ontario’s classification of asbestos as commercial waste. He said in his home province of Manitoba, asbestos waste is classified as hazardous waste.

“That’s appalling and that does a disservice to anybody who’s exposed to it or works in the premises of the landfill or any neighbours of the landfill…they’ve got to revisit this in light of contemporary attitudes towards asbestos. That’s an outdated and inadequate provision,” said Mr. Martin.

Mr. Martin said disposing of asbestos waste in otherwise regular, commercial waste landfill is a disservice to the public, people living and working at the landfills.

In an email response to The Hill Times, Public Works said the asbestos removal is being done in compliance with all legislation requirements. Removal is being done in a highly controlled environment, under strict safety controls, and with the removal work being carried out in sealed “work spaces” to ensure “adjacent ‘clean’ areas” aren’t contaminated.

According to Public Works, asbestos waste from the West Block and Wellington Building are bagged and put into steel containers for transportation to the disposal site. How often these asbestos containers are hauled away is "generally dictated by optimiznig the loading capacity of the trucks, varying on average from one to four days, said Public works.

Companies disposing of asbestos must give the respective landfill 24 hours notice before they can bring in a load. Once there, trucks are required to back right up to a designated area in the landfill which, generally speaking, is a recently dug-out hole. As soon as possible after unloading the asbestos, the landfill is required to cover the waste with “at least 125 centimetres of garbage or cover material.” This measure is meant to keep the asbestos waste containers from being punctured or otherwise disturbed, things which could cause fibres to become airborne.

Mr. Martin said he thinks this is not good enough.

“I mean if it only has to be covered over with other debris, who says it’s not going to be disturbed and airborne again years down the road,” said Mr. Martin.

lryckewaert@hilltimes.com