Nurses union concerned after lead found in Grande Prairie provincial building

Catherine Garrett · CBC News

· Posted: May 09, 2025 8:38 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

A national representing nurses successful Alberta is raising concerns aft pb was discovered successful the HVAC strategy astatine a provincial gathering successful northwest Alberta, resulting successful the gathering being evacuated and closed. 

An OHS study shared with CBC News detailing the pb contamination and remedial enactment required connected the Grande Prairie Provincial Building was distributed by the nurses national to its members this week. 

It is besides posted wrong the gathering arsenic per OHS requirements, a provincial spokesperson said successful an email.

The gathering was closed April 30 but concerns implicit imaginable pb contamination were archetypal raised successful September, the study states. 

United Nurses of Alberta Local 207, which represents the nurses who enactment successful the building, said they are highly acrophobic with however the quality was communicated to the leader and its staff. 

"The biggest interest is the connection issues that happened with this, determination were immoderate delays successful the accusation making it to the radical who needed to perceive it," said Danielle Larivee, archetypal vice-president of the UNA,

The national said it recommended each of its members go for humor testing, and the nurses person besides exercised their close to garbage unsafe enactment astatine the provincial gathering location. 

UNA is besides moving with OHS to find the interaction of the vulnerability experienced by its members. 

"We are hopeful that determination volition beryllium nary semipermanent wellness consequences," it said successful a connection connected its website, adding the national is moving intimately with AHS connected the matter. 

Alberta Health Services is providing on-site humor investigating to staff, the national says.

Issue dates backmost to 2024

In a nationalist announcement issued April 30, Alberta Health Services said the clinic, located successful the Grande Prairie Provincial Building, is temporarily closed owed to indoor aerial prime issues. 

According to the OHS report, the contamination stems from September 2024, during scheduled attraction of the HVAC system. The exterior coating of the aerial handling portion contains pb and it was discovered that the attraction had not been done successful a mode to guarantee pb particulate could not participate the system.  

Clearance aboveground hitch investigating was conducted, utilizing a threshold of 40 micrograms per quadrate foot, with any results of that bounds requiring follow-up.

Samples were taken successful the interior and exterior of the AC supply, vigor supply, and instrumentality ducts and supra the ceiling tiles adjacent the main level mechanical room. 

During aboveground hitch investigating successful precocious October, 28 of 36 samples were supra the 40 micrograms per quadrate foot criteria, and 17 samples exceeded 200 micrograms per quadrate foot.

"It is important to enactment that successful each rounds of testing, areas containing elevated levels of pb were identified connected the surfaces, and these represented lone comparatively small, constricted portions of the gathering and infrastructure," the study said.

"Based connected the aboveground hitch sampling conducted astatine the Grande Prairie Provincial Building, it is wide that determination is pb contiguous wrong the aerial handling system.

"The beingness of pb wrong the surfaces of the aerial handling systems astatine the Grande Prairie Provincial Building creates a hazard to the wellness and information of some workers and different persons that are often contiguous wrong the building."

April assessment 

A authorities from the Ministry of Infrastructure said lead-containing materials were recovered during scheduled attraction of the HVAC system, which started successful 2024.

It said a thorough assessment, undertaken by a certified concern hygiene work provider, identified elevated levels of pb successful immoderate locations.

"Because the locations are not easy accessible, the concern hygiene work supplier does not see this a hazard to tenants," the connection said.

"A study by a qualified concern hygiene work supplier finalized April 15, 2025, did not find grounds of elevated levels of airborne pb successful enactment areas," it added. 

WATCH | Lead-containing materials recovered successful provincial building

CBC News reached retired to BGIS, the gathering absorption company, arsenic good arsenic OHS but some declined to comment. 

However, an subordinate prof astatine the University of Alberta said vulnerability samples are not included successful the OHS report, and that would amusement the risk.

"I bash cognize that pb is simply a known toxicant truthful the aboveground sampling attraction is concerning I would say," said Bernadette Quemerais.

"The occupation is we person nary thought what is the exposure."

The study states that "the sampling conducted has not sufficiently demonstrated that determination is not a hazard of airborne pb vulnerability erstwhile moving a fig of the aerial handling units implicit important periods of time."

Building remains closed

AHS said Thursday that the session has temporarily relocated to the Queen Elizabeth II Ambulatory Care Centre. The provincial gathering remains closed until further notice. 

Public wellness unit are besides reaching retired to patients to marque definite they are alert of the relocation, and signs have been posted connected the provincial building. 

The OHS study states that BGIS confirmed the aerial handling units person been disconnected since Oct. 31, 2024, "and they would stay disconnected until they had each the pb abated from the ducts."

The study said chapeau OHS has ordered the ventilation systems successful the gathering not beryllium operated until the results of nonrecreational investigating amusement that the aerial systems and "relevant aboveground areas in mechanical rooms, occupant and visitant areas" nary longer incorporate pb materials.