The city of Kingston, ON was fined $81,250 after failing to test for asbestos before renovating a municipal building in May 2007.
The Ministry of Labour charged the city under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Kingston officials entered a guilty plea on the city's behalf. While the city admitted to violating the act, they contend that their failure did not endanger the health of anyone who was in the building.
Asbestos was discovered while the building was being renovated and work was immediately halted. The building, completed in 1972, houses Utilities Kingston and several city management offices.
In addition to the fine, Kingston spent nearly $100,000 to hire an environmental specialist to conduct air tests within the building. Those tests came back negative for the presence of asbestos and city officials said that the health of workers, city employees and visitors was not compromised.
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