Ministry of the Environment
Hon. Elizabeth Witmer, Minister
135 St. Clair Avenue West, 12th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M4V 1P5
Subject: Asbestos hazard at the former Manson site
Dear Minister,
We are a community association representing more than 3,000 families. Our community is located in the Southeast corner of the former City of Scarborough (bounded by Lake Ontario on the south, Highland Creek on the west, Highway 2A on the north and Port Union Road on the east). Within this area are the lands formerly occupied by the Johns Manville Company (JM) which was a manufacturer of asbestos pipe and other products containing asbestos. JM sold both their plant and their patents to a company called Manson. The site then became known as the Manson site as it still is today. The soil surrounding the plant was contaminated with asbestos as well as other toxic substances and has been a concern to the area residents since asbestos was determined to be a hazardous material.
During the 1980's a major portion of the site was remediated by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and has since been developed for family homes. This remediation took place under strict controls only after this community association raised strong objections to the original method. Our objections resulted in the MOE holding a lengthy hearing in which we played a major role. Recently the remaining portion of this land including the Manson plant was to be cleaned up, the plant dismantled and all asbestos removed. This removal process was developed by consulting engineers, Candec Consultants Ltd., hired by Yellow Moon, the developer and was reviewed by various government agencies including the MOE. The City of Toronto hired a peer reviewer who also commented on the process. A project team was assembled including the MOE, the Ministry of Labour (MOL), Candec, City of Toronto Building Division, Toronto Public Health, the Peer Reviewer, Councillor Ron Moeser and representatives of the three communities surrounding and located on the Manson Site. According to Candec, all asbestos has now been removed and the site can be certified for future development.
On March 28th, a member of our community went by the site and noticed what he thought was asbestos lying on the surface. This find was reported but MOE and MOL inspectors were unable to find the material. A second trip to the site was arranged and all members of the project team were asked to attend. Inspectors from the City of Toronto Peer Reviewer's office, MOL, Councillor Ron Moeser, and the president of West Rouge Community Association and myself, the president of this association, accompanied the resident who made the discovery. Unfortunately no representative from the MOE was present. After the resident directed the group to the 20 X 10 metre area where asbestos was clearly visible on the undisturbed surface of the ground, samples of the material were obtained and analyzed. The material was verified as FRIABLE ASBESTOS. There are further reports of material suspected to be transite pipe fragments and piles of asbestos fibre within the fenced area of the site . Candec has issued their final report to Yellow Moon, on April 3rd in which they state that all asbestos has been removed from the property and the site is "clean". Obviously, this is not factual.
A hearing before the OMB is scheduled for the latter part of May. Yellow Moon intend to seek approval at that hearing to proceed with the residential development of the site. In view of the evidence of friable asbestos visible on the site which the consultant deemed "clean", we ask that you stop the developer from proceeding until further investigations of the Yellow Moon property are carried out to determine the extent of asbestos still on the site. We relied on your senior inspector and the consultant to ensure that all asbestos was removed. With the verified discovery that hazardous asbestos is still present, we cannot be assured that the site is "clean" as claimed by the consultant. We also wonder how your senior inspector did not see this material. Was this oversight, negligence? We also note that the number of test holes/test pits seems to be reduced from the original remediation plan, particularly on the original concrete floor slab. Much of the area where the asbestos has been found and can be seen has been undisturbed for some time. Grasses and shrubs on the site remain from last fall which causes us to question how diligently the test pit procedure was followed.
We ask that you not certify this site clean until a more rigorous investigation is carried out. When the previous 90 acres of the Manson site was developed, all asbestos was systematically removed. This was also supposed to happen with the Yellow Moon property. At this point, anything less than the complete removal of all soil down to native undisturbed soil over the entire property will not be satisfactory. That is the only way we can be assured that all asbestos has been removed. This community has lived with the environmental hazard of asbestos for years. It's time for this to end.
In view of the above we would like to know what action your ministry is going to take to ensure this community is protected from this hazard? I would appreciate a response by April 19th.
Robert W. Baron
President
| cc: | Mr. Steve Gilchrist, MPP Mr. Jim Bradley, MPP Environment Critic, Ontario Liberal Party Ms. Marilyn Churley, MPP Environment Critic, Ontario NDP Mr. Ron Moeser, Councillor Mr. David Soknacki, Councillor Mr. Ralph Wissborn, President WRCA Mr. Thomas LaFond, President, Port Union Village Homeowners Association |
