Coman Arctic clarifies status of Iqaluit public health building

Coman Arctic would like to take this opportunity to offer clarification with respect to building 155 in Iqaluit, known as Public Health.

When it was first reported by various media that there was mould and asbestos in our building, the facts were not made clear about the entire situation, which lead to some misinformation directed at the public audience.

Low count amplification of some types of mould spores were found within the air of the building. Low levels of asbestos were also found in the mechanical room.

The asbestos was found in tiles that are glued to the floor underneath the boilers only. These tiles contain less than one per cent of chrysotile asbestos.

No member of Public Health staff or the general public would have access to this mechanical room.

Coman Arctic, in its ongoing commitment to the staff and residents of Iqaluit, has followed the highest standards and protocol in its due diligence in requesting for this environmental assessment and requesting other parties outlined to provide it’s analysis of the entire building.

A third party review of IAQ environmental analysis by Ontario Environmental Safety Network agreed with the method of testing, the action taken by Coman Arctic and the low risk exposure within the building at this time.

Coman Arctic has been fulfilling our due diligence as a landlord working with Indoor Air Quality, Inflector Environmental Services, WSCC, Office of the Fire Marshal, a structional engineering firm, as well as with Public Health to remedy this situation in a timely fashion.

Mould and asbestos remediation is scheduled to start mid-July and renovations are then scheduled to begin after remediation is completed.

Once remediation and construction is completed, a final report from all parties involved will be provided to Coman Arctic outlining our building as a clean working and safe environment for all residents of Iqaluit.

At no time was the staff at Public Health in danger due to the low levels of mould and asbestos counts within Public Health building.

We would like to thank the staff at Public Health, CGS and the Qikiqtani General Hospital for reacting quickly to the move, thus giving us quicker access to start all work.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience at this time.

Coman Arctic
Iqaluit

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