Asbestos dumped on roadsides a growing problem in B.C.

The fight to wipe out asbestos is proving to be costly, particularly in British Columbia. Cities throughout the province are seeing a spike in illegally dumped building materials, which includes asbestos drywall and flooring.

According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, it cost the City of Vancouver approximately $50,000 this year to clean up the potentially dangerous, illegally-discarded trash.

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It appears many companies are looking to cut corners, choosing to dodge fees to safely discard the material. As a result, large loads of material containing asbestos are being retrieved from discreet spots across the province.

The problem could be a response to the slow wait times it takes for city crews to retrieve and properly dispose of the waste. A disposal site in Surrey, B.C., was fined $58,000 recently for accepting more than the legal amount of waste, including materials containing asbestos, between 2011 and 2013.

Pilot projects offering used drywall disposal sites have opened in Langley and Nanaimo, while Chilliwack began accepting asbestos-containing waste at its main landfill.

One contractor told the Sun that about 90 per cent of B.C.’s asbestos waste is transferred to Alberta, which can handle larger quantities.

This year, the federal government announced that Canada would fully ban the use of asbestos by 2018. The material, which is widely used in construction for insulation, can cause lung disease and is the No. 1 killer of Canadian workers by far.