Asbestos News

A food bank in Ontario, Canada, that is being moved to a different location will have to wait while asbestos is removed from the new site, according to the Hamilton Spectator.

The news source reports that the Stoney Creek Food Bank has been in operation for 19 years in an old fire hall, but the city is looking to move it to the former Stoney Creek Community Church.

Representatives from the food bank have expressed their frustration over the move, calling the new location unsuitable to their operations. Additionally, the delay from the asbestos discovery is adding to their stress, according to the news source.

"It’s the unknown and not being able to do what we want to do... we haven’t heard from them and we’re sitting there waiting, and I get very disturbed. I get angry that nothing is happening," Wilf Rogers, the chair of the food bank’s board of directors, told the news source.

Kelly Anderson, an official with Hamilton's public works department, added that while the initial goal was to move the food bank this summer, that date has been pushed back to the fall due to the asbestos find.

Abating asbestos from structures is a critical component of renovation work as exposure to the carcinogen can cause lung cancer, asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma.