Demolition of 100-year-old silos in East Vancouver have residents worried

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Residents in East Vancouver are concerned over an upcoming demolition of several grain silos that have stood for 100 years.

An environmental assessment of the silos has found they contain asbestos, mercury and PCBs.

Anonymous posters have appears around the neighbourhood near the silos, warning people to keep children and pets out of playgrounds and to keep doors and windows close until the work is completed in May 2020.

Kate McDonald lives close-by and says she doesn’t know who is hanging the posters.

“People are upset,” says McDonald. “It definitely raised some alarm bells.”

Viterra, who owns the grain silos, says the posters are full of misinformation.

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In an online statement, they say “there are no concerns with the use of community gardens, use of public areas or having windows open at home or work in areas near the deconstruction.”

Viterra says that have the backing of the Ministry of Environment, BC Workplace Safety and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to carry out their demolition strategy.

Part of that strategy is to conduct air quality tests, but this is not enough to satisfy McDonald.

“We don’t have the same access to the air quality readings that they’re going to have on-site,” she says. “And anything we’re going to find out is going to be so far after the fact, that there’s no real way to mitigate our exposure when we’re outside.”