Students, staff at Edmonton elementary school may have been exposed to asbestos
CBC
Students and staff at an elementary school in southwest Edmonton may have been exposed to asbestos.
Edmonton Public Schools informed families on Wednesday in a letter following an investigation by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety this summer.
It happened during construction in early May to fix a burst pipe at Greenfield School.
Repair work was done on four rooms during May and June.
The work required drywall to be removed and reinstalled. The demolition occurred between May 2 and May 9, which included six school days.
New drywall was installed on June 5 and 6, which included additional trimming of old drywall.
At the end of June, the division received notification of a concern that appropriate safety protocols were not followed during the repairs at the school.
A barrier between the hallway and the door to the room where repairs were happening wasn't airtight enough to ensure asbestos dust didn't migrate into the hallway.
Superintendent Darrel Robertson said testing shows between one to five per cent levels of asbestos in the school drywall.
He apologized to parents during a news conference on Friday.
"We have broken some trust with our families, and we need to rebuild that trust," Robertson said.
"I want our parents to be 100 per cent confident that our work is not resulting in any kind of hazardous material that their kids could be exposed to or our staff."
The federal government banned the use of asbestos in 2018, with limited exclusions, as it can cause life-threatening diseases, such as asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer.
According to Health Canada, asbestos was common in building materials until 1990.