Guidelines of asbestos removal up to each province
As Canada moves toward becoming asbestos-free by 2018, it appears there are some discrepancies in how to go about this in a safe and economical manner.
In British Columbia, there has been a spike of illegally dumped building materials, including those that contain asbestos, found in inconspicuous spots throughout the province. It was reported that the City of Vancouver spent approximately $50,000 in 2016 to clean up the potentially dangerous and illegally discarded trash.
While there haven’t been any reports of such a widespread problem in other provinces, those working in environmental removal have had to tackle improperly disposed asbestos.
Real Landriault, a consultant with the Toronto-based Asbestos Environmental of Canada, said that while he hasn’t been contracted to remove roadside waste, he has encountered other unconventional means of disposal of asbestos.
“People will rent out storage units and fill it with asbestos, and then disappear,” he told Yahoo Canada News.
“They’ll fill it up — amosite, chrysotile, pipe insulation. They’ll just fill up the whole container.”
Landriault has done three such jobs in the past 15 years. The process of removing the toxic fibre from a contained space is laboured. Employees have to first seal the unit, double bag the waste and then perform an air test upon completion.
A representative at Environment Canada said that it was up to each province to properly outline how to handle and properly dispose of asbestos.
Between the 1950s and the mid-1970s, asbestos was widely used to insulate properties. It was also used as a binding agent in construction materials like plastic and cement, thanks to its non-combustible and flame retardant properties.
It wasn’t until 1987 that the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer declared it a human carcinogen.
Asbestos is considered most dangerous when it is easily crumbled into small particles. Materials containing asbestos found in homes that are tightly bound and left in place, aren’t considered a health risk.
