| A potentially hazardous form of vermiculite found in public buildings, private homes, businesses and schools in Calgary and across the country is posing a threat to public health. Known by its trade name Zonolite, the vermiculite product is contaminated with tremolite, an especially dangerous type of asbestos mineral with needle-like fibres that are invisible to the naked eye.
More than 70 per cent of the vermiculite ore mined in the world came from Libby, Montana, where a mine purchased from the Zonolite Corporation by WR Grace Corporation in 1963 is located. WR Grace shipped more than 1.5 billion tons of the raw material to Canada, where it was processed at nine plants including one in Calgary. It was at these plants where the vermiculite was heated until it "popped" – a process that caused it to expand, leaving large air pockets that gave the tremolite-contaminated vermiculite its insulating properties.
In Calgary, from the 1940s until the 1980s, Zonolite Attic Insulation was marketed as a safe product that was often used as an insulating material. It was used in home attics and stuffed inside masonry blocks to improve the insulating properties of commercial and public buildings.
One organization that used Zonolite extensively was the Calgary Board of Education. The legacy of that decision remains today inside scores of its schools – officials don’t have a final tally.
When contacted in October 2004 about the matter, CBE spokesman Graham White originally reported that Zonolite was used in "all of our schools" and the material is "safely encased in concrete."
However, subsequent investigation determined that statement to be incorrect. On at least one occasion, Zonolite leaked out of the walls of a Calgary school and into an area that many of the children would have visited on a daily basis.
In 2000, a report titled School Facility Evaluation Project was completed by the Calgary architectural firm of Gowling and Gibb. Architect Winston Dziver was assigned the task of inspecting A.E. Cross Junior High School. He discovered cracked masonry blocks with their cores stuffed with Zonolite, and the material leaking out onto the floor. His report states: "concrete block cracking (Zonolite Insulation on the floor) in 1966 addition boys washroom at N.W. corner."
That means that Zonolite could have been leaking out of the wall, undetected, since 1966. Dziver, now retired, was contacted at his Calgary home to comment.
"I certainly wasn’t aware of the danger of Zonolite," says Dziver, who conducted his audit without a respirator to protect him from the dangerous asbestos fibres that may have been in the air (the use of a breathing apparatus is now standard protocol when working with such hazardous material).
"It (Zonolite) was very popular in masonry construction. I’m not sure what happened after my inspection. The report was referred to public works."
An official at CBE says the wall at A.E. Cross was repaired, but confirms that no further investigation about what risk Zonolite, leaking from the wall, posed to students or staff was ever carried out. How long Zonolite was on the floor of the boys washroom and how dangerous the situation was remains unresolved.
Although the architect conducting the facility audit on A.E. Cross for Alberta Infrastructure in 2000 says he was unaware of the danger Zonolite posed, Alberta Infrastructure spokesman Martin Dupuis says that his department has known about the hazards of Zonolite for "a long time."
"Alberta Infrastructure has stringent guidelines in place to deal with asbestos products," says Dupuis. "It’s (Zonolite) in a lot of homes. Not just government buildings."
And Dupuis is correct. Some estimates report that 200,000 to 300,000 homes across Canada have Zonolite in them. Although many experts state the product is safe if it’s left undisturbed, that seems an unlikely scenario in school buildings where masonry block is cracked, such as in the case of A.E. Cross Junior High. And the problem is not confined to A.E. Cross. CBE reports that more than $400 million is required to repair Calgary’s aging public schools; many of which contain Zonolite.
However, no one can say exactly how many Calgary schools are affected or whose job it is to find out. CBE says that hazardous materials audits were supposed to be conducted on "dozens and dozens of schools," but "Alberta Infrastructure failed to complete them." Meanwhile, Alberta Infrastructure spokesman Martin Dupuis says it’s the responsibility of the CBE to "request" the audits be completed, and that hazardous materials audits of Calgary’s public schools are continuing as "part of an ongoing program."
Someone who is very familiar with the threat Zonolite poses is Mark Huston, operations manager of PHH, a subsidiary of Pinchin Environmental Ltd., one of Canada’s largest environmental health and safety companies.
Based in Calgary, Huston says Pinchin and PHH routinely test for and arrange the cleanup of Zonolite at building sites across the country.
"Anytime it’s not confined it’s not good," he says. "It exists everywhere – private homes, public buildings, businesses, on First Nations and schools."
Huston explains that Zonolite left undisturbed is not a danger, but in cases where it can become airborne, such as at A.E. Cross Junior High School, it’s a major concern.
"In the industry it’s a big deal," he says. "It’s harder to get at because it’s finer."
Those microscopic particles can easily become airborne and once breathed in, remain attached to the linings of the lungs. Zonolite has been directly linked to a range of diseases, including a rare form of lung cancer called mesothelioma.
In April 2004, Health Canada finally reacted to increasing public concern about Zonolite by creating a 1-800 number to dispense information to Canadians about the asbestos-based product.
Meanwhile, how serious a threat Zonolite poses to students and staff inside Calgary’s public schools remains an open question.
For more information about Zonolite, visit Health Canada’s website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/, or phone 1-800-443-0395. |
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