Asbestos halts work on roof replacement at Science and Technology Museum

The Canada Science and Technology Museum has halted work on replacing its roof after asbestos was discovered in roofing materials in the nearly 50-year-old building.

The museum discovered earlier this month, on the first day of the renovation project, that cement in the roof had a one-per-cent concentration of asbestos, said Fernand Proulx, the interim president and CEO of the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation.

As we started taking some of the membrane off, we notice some of the materials didnt look quite like concrete, Proulx said Friday.

When testing confirmed the presence of asbestos, the museum corporation halted work and brought in Stantec Consulting Ltd. to test air quality, beginning the evening of Oct. 16.

The tests did not detect the presence of asbestos fibre, and showed only minimal or non-existent particulate readings, well below required standards, the corporation said in a news release.

Proulx said the museum is now conducting air quality tests on a regular basis. Weve had zero traces at this point and were monitoring it, he said.

The museum plans to reseal the roof over the next two or three days and postpone the roof replacement for several months while it figures out how to proceed, Proulx said. Because of the asbestos, were going to have to have a different approach to take (the old roof) out.

While Proulx stressed there was no risk to museum visitors or staff, he said the problem will cause a little disturbance in the museum, with plastic protecting some of the artifacts. He doesnt expect the problem to interfere with the publics ability to visit the museum.

If through any kind of adjustments to the ceiling there was any kind of risk where the air quality was diminished, wed have to take other actions at that point, he said. But were pretty confident we can manage it.

The St. Laurent Boulevard museum is housed in a former bakery warehouse that is needs $3.4 million in major structural repairs, according to the museum corporations 2013-14 budget.

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Asbestos halts work on roof replacement at Science and Technology Museum