October 2015

Peter Stockdale's zibi tour

Dr. Peter Stockdale, a supporter of the citizens advocacy group Freeing Chaudière Falls and Its Islands, provides a first-person account of his experience.

On October 3, 2015, I attended a Zibi site tour so I could better know the site. Little did I know I would be exposed to asbestos.

I arrived early and the only other person attending was a materials expert. He seemed to be there, in part, to sell a quick-forming road surface. I was glad there were no great numbers or small children as there were some two- to three-metre drops onto concrete that unattended children might have fallen into. These drops were protected only by flimsy wood barriers.  I’ll have more to say about children in a moment.

As we proceeded through the mill I noticed large panels that covered the walls. Both the tour guide and the materials expert confirmed my suspicion that the panels were asbestos, now exposed.

As we were leaving the mill, I noticed a sign for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Presumably an event had taken place there. The guide was unable to tell me more.  The thought that sick children could be put in danger just so Zibi could market their condos shocked me.

Before exiting the tour I also spoke to a Greg Ross, a sustainability coordinator with Windmill Development Group, who told me quite readily that “there is asbestos throughout the site.” Workers from the industrial time were only allowed into the rolling mill for 15 minutes at a time because of extreme high heat. This would have been a reason for asbestos in buildings (to stop the spread of fire). Alarmed at what I was hearing, I subsequently contacted the Children’s Wish Foundation in Toronto, which despite having a sign at the site, knew of no event by its local chapter having ever taken place there.

I am fully aware that asbestos is most dangerous when disturbed, and that removal of asbestos requires special handling. Even so, research I did later into asbestos told me that

Damage and deterioration will increase the friability of asbestos-containing materials. Water damage, continual vibration, aging, and physical impact such as drilling, grinding, buffing, cutting, sawing, or striking can break the materials down making fiber release more likely.  Source: University of Oregon

It seems to me that the mills and other buildings that used to belong to E.B. Eddy and Domtar fit the description of being old (deteriorated) and having suffered water damage (no heat source during winter for 10 years since Domtar closed its Ontario site in 2005). I am ware that buildings on Chaudière Island have been subject to ongoing vibration due to the excavations that began in the fall of 2015 related to an Energy Ottawa hydro project that has had a huge impact on Chaudière Island (see drone photo of excavation, December 2015).

I was also concerned about the possibility of breathing in dust from old lead paint or fumes from heavy oil that might have seeped into concrete floors.

In doing research about the Chaudière site, I learned that Windmill’s own Cultural Heritage Impact Statement (produced in 2014 for the City of Ottawa) notes the need to assess the prevalence of asbestos and other hazardous (described as "designated") substances on the site.

Has this kind of investigation happened? Or is the company waiting until land transfers for the industrial site that involve the National Capital Commission are complete before it takes steps to ensure no hazards to health exist? Why clean up a site that you don't own?

Given the age and condition of buildings on the site, I am concerned that I was not informed, except in an offhand way, about any of the possible health impacts that might be associated with a tour of the buildings on this site. I suppose that asking people to sign waivers is not good public relations!

#NoWaiversZibi   @falls3islands