Asbestos discovery stops work at Grace site

The provincial Ministry of Labour ordered all workers off the former Grace Hospital property Tuesday.

The reason for the order is because samples have tested positive for asbestos. The ministry made the discovery in four of eight samples taken last week. The asbestos was found in the flooring.

The crew working for the past few months had taken 860 other samples from the piles of debris on site but all of those came back negative.

The ministry has ordered the owner to seal off the areas with asbestos and develop by Feb. 14 a plan for removing it.

Mayor Eddie Francis said the development means city council will not decide what to do about the property until after that.

"We will benefit from the information — we being the city — that will be in that report on Feb.14 because that will put the city in a position to be more informed in terms of what is on that site should the city decide to step in and take action," he said.

The city had planned to take action on the site this week. The city was to choose to demolish or clean up the site itself.

That's because owner Lou Vozza missed a Jan. 30 deadline to have the site clean and secure. The first mortgage holder, Westpark Developments, stripped Vozza of the cleanup responsibility and was doing the work itself.

The mayor could not say whether the discovery poses any danger to neighbours.

"By taking these steps they are protecting the neighbourhood," he said.

A local contractor who specializes in asbestos removal said there likely isn't much risk to neighbours.

Rick White of R.C. White, Ltd. said that based on his knowledge of asbestos, what he's seen in photos and video taken at Grace and the report released Wednesday there is not a "major concern."

White was asked to rate the danger on a scale of one to 10, with one being not concerned and 10 being alarmed.

"I say one to two," White said. "If there's debris laying around or there was not the proper procedures in place, to contain the dust, then yes it could get airborne."

But even if that happens, White says it would be trace amounts.

The Grace site was once supposed to be converted to a nursing home, but those plans have been abandoned.