Exterior demolition work on a former pulp and paper mill in Sturgeon Falls, Ont., is under way again after a concern with asbestos contamination brought the work to a temporary halt.
No stop work order issued, REC official says
W.D. LIGHTHALL
(DCN CORRESPONDENT)
Exterior demolition work on a former pulp and paper mill in Sturgeon Falls, Ont., is under way again after a concern with asbestos contamination brought the work to a temporary halt.
In early July, Restoration Environmental Contractors and REC Demolition, based in Gormley, Ont., voluntarily agreed to halt exterior demolition work on the mill until air-monitoring stations were installed on the two-hectare site.
REC Demolition agreed to temporarily halt exterior demolition work on the mill after the Ministry of the Environment received several complaints from Sturgeon Falls residents concerned about the release of asbestos particles into the air.
The 27,000-square-metre mill, owned by Weyerhaeuser Co., closed in 2002. About 150 jobs were lost with the plant’s closure.
Don Bremner, vice-president of operations for REC, said exterior demolition work on the project was halted for a week while the air-monitoring stations were installed.
Guelph-based Lex Scientific Inc., environmental consulting firm on the project, has now completed installation of five air-monitoring stations on the site.
Bremner also said that, contrary to some media reports, at no time did REC Demolition or Weyerhaeuser receive an order by either the environment or labour ministries to stop work on the demolition.
Representatives from the province’s Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Labour visited the mill site on July 8, after the environment ministry received several complaints about the way transite board, a type of concrete siding containing asbestos, was being handled.
Bremner said the asbestos in transite board isn’t released unless the board is cut or drilled. He said workers were removing transite board, but were not cutting or drilling it and therefore, there was no risk of air-born asbestos contaminants.
When representatives from the two ministries visited the site, “They found that there was no problems and no violations of any Ontario legislation or regulations,” he said. “And they suggested, because of the public awareness and negativity towards the (demolition), we make sure the perimeter air monitoring around the site was in place before we continue.”
“Weyerhaeuser and Lex Scientific agreed that airmonitoring equipment would be put in place, and we said we would stop the exterior demolition and continue with asbestos removal on the inside while the (exterior) air monitoring was put in place,” Bremner added.
John Steele, a environment ministry spokesman, confirmed that no order to stop work was issued by the ministry.
“No order was ever issued against the company because you would issue orders if you had adverse effect. There was no adverse effect,” said Steele of the asbestos removal work.
Steele also said that on July 2, before any demolition work began, a meeting was held with representatives of Weyerhaeuser, REC, Lex Scientific and the environment and labour ministries. It was agreed during the meeting that, among other efforts to control contaminants, an air-monitoring program would be put in place before exterior demolition work started.
“There was a voluntary agreement to do certain things prior to demolition and obviously, the permanent air-monitoring station was not in effect,” Steele said.
Bremner said that removing transite board is a Type 1 level of asbestos removal, the level with the least risk. Under provincial regulations, Type 1 asbestos removal does not normally require an airmonitoring program.
“We thought as a contractor that (air monitoring) was in place. The consulting company hadn’t done it because we were just doing Type 1 (asbestos removal),” he said.
Bremner attributed at least one of the complaints received by the environment ministry to a former employee of the mill.
“There’s a lot of negative public feeling and animosity about the closing and now demolition of this plant by former employees in the community, and the ministry has to look at every complaint,” he said.
After visiting the site, the Ontario Ministry of Labour did issue Weyerhaeuser with an order that the company provide the ministry with weekly copies of all environmental and air-testing reports for the remainder of the project. The order was issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“The order has been complied with. The Ministry of Labour is continuing to monitor the situation,” said Belinda Sutton, a spokesperson with the labour ministry.
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