Barrie has miles and miles of old decrepit roads made of Asbestos-Asphalt pavement that are leaking hazardous carcinogenic Asbestos into the
Barrie has miles and miles of old decrepit roads made of Asbestos-Asphalt pavement that are leaking hazardous carcinogenic Asbestos into the environment by way of aging, weathering, and abrasion.
Asbestos fibres are 1/100 the diameter of a human hair. No amount of Asbestos is considered safe for man or beast. Once in the airway, the body has no way of metabolizing Asbestos or ridding itself of it. Asbestos in the lungs is there to stay forever. All citizens of Barrie deserve to be protected from the health scourge called Asbestos.
The City of Barrie needs to take responsibility and replace these Asbestos-Asphalt roadways leaking Asbestos fibres on a priority basis repaving the worse roads first. Beg, borrow or steal but make our city safe...now.
The City is aware of ongoing comments with respect to asbestos in asphalt. We continue to work closely with all applicable Provincial ministries and the SMDHU to ensure that our practices meet all requirements; they do. The safety of residents, our employees and the environment will continue to be our priority. As additional information becomes available and validated, this City’s website will be updated. For now, here is a summary of our road construction practice in accordance with all requirements:
Asbestos was used as an additive to asphalt from the 1960s to mid-1980s, added to asphalt mix to provide greater strength and performance. It is not used in asphalt anymore, but in many municipalities roads that were built between the 1960s and early 1980s could contain asbestos.
Asbestos is bound within the pavement, so there is very low risk to the public. Even when asphalt containing asbestos breaks down, it’s still bound within the asphalt. It does not pose a risk until it’s airborne, which happens when it’s cut into during the construction process.
Before road construction or maintenance begins, the City first tests the asphalt for asbestos. If the asphalt contains asbestos, special precautions are taken by workers removing the asphalt. These provincially legislated precautions include wetting the asphalt to prevent the dust from becoming airborne, and workers are required to wear proper protective equipment.
For more information please refer to Pavement Management at www.barrie.ca/AssetManagement (see the FAQs under “Asbestos in Asphalt”).
5 comments
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Dave Martin commented
A health hazard that should have been addressed many years ago. It likely would have been fixed if a senior politician lived or had family members living on that street.
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Jim Anderson
commented
Sure seems like a skating-around-the-issue answer from the City...
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Dieter Mueller commented
The City Response was posted by General Manager Andrea Miller. It is in error and it is deceptive. The City is NOT co-operating with the Ministry of Labour at this time. A Material Testing Lab showed indisputably that free Asbestos is present in the dirt on our street. If citizens safety was a concern, the City would see to it that the hazardous Asbestos-Asphalt pavements were repaved. They have no plans to keep us safe. dieter.mueller4907@gmail.com
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The official word from the City is that our 48 year old Asbestos-Asphalt road (Gloria Street) "... is not scheduled for resurfacing for several years."
According to the Deputy Mayor Mr. Barry Ward, residents of Barrie do not pay enough taxes.
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Anonymous
commented
Great we don’t have enoug worry about with COVID 19 and now we have asbestos in our asphalt well I hope the city has plans to get rid of it god knows we pay enough taxes.