W5 investigation reveals asbestos cement pipes beneath Winnipeggers' feet
For decades, starting in the 1950s and ’60s the City of Winnipeg laid hundreds of kilometres of asbestos cement pipes across the city. Now those pipes and the asbestos fibres within them are causing concerns.
A recent W5 investigation has found there are 721 kilometres of asbestos cement pipes in Winnipeg, and 25 per cent of the water main networks is also made of the material.
The city was using the asbestos cement pipes in the 1950s and ’60s through to the early 1990s to provide better protection against corrosion.
In the decades since, asbestos fibres have been determined to be deadly if inhaled. Now the hundreds of kilometres of asbestos cement pipes beneath Winnipeggers' feet are raising worries.
"I am concerned that people can get cancer from the ingestion, including through asbestos cement water pipes," Arthur Frank, a public health professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, told W5.
Frank said he is worried it is possible asbestos can cause gastrointestinal tract cancer even if ingested rather than inhaled.
"There is no safe level of an exposure to a cancer-causing agent," Frank said.
Health Canada says there is no evidence drinking or ingesting asbestos is harmful to human health and so there is currently no maximum limit that can be in Canadian water.
However, Brian Mayes, chair of Winnipeg's water and waste committee, says the American Environmental Protection Agency says if the fibre length is shorter than 10 micrometres it is too small to cause any damage. Longer ones are different, and it will not allow more than 7 million long fibres per litre of water.
"It was tested for an 11-year arc between the early ’80s and the mid ’90s, and we didn't find any of these long fibres over that whole 11-year arc, so the testing was discontinued then," Mayes said.
Still, advocate Julian Branch can't understand why there isn't widespread testing for asbestos in Canadian drinking water, and why there isn't more urgency on the part of elected officials.
"We can't just keep pretending it's not there. We have to find a solution to this before it's too late," Branch told W5.
That solution may come with time as those asbestos cement pipes are on the way out in Winnipeg.
"We haven't been putting it in newer developments in decades," Mayes told CTV News. "We are gradually reducing the kilometerage of pipes that has the asbestos."
In a statement, provincial Environment Minister Kevin Klein told CTV News, "Manitoba municipalities follow all provincial drinking water standards which are based on Health Canada guidelines. Health Canada has concluded there is no evidence asbestos fibres in drinking water is harmful to health."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6978649.1722015109!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga, Ont.: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Ont., Peel police say.
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
FBI says Trump was indeed struck by bullet during assassination attempt
Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump's near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president's ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused the former president's injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Powerful cartel leader 'El Mayo' Zambada was lured onto airplane before arrest in U.S., AP source says
A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.