Asbestos in First Nation school forces students out of class

A temporary classroom for elementary school students at Ebb and Flow community hall.

People living in a Manitoba First Nation community are waiting for an independent engineer's report to determine if it's safe for their kids to return to class.

Asbestos was discovered crumbling from the ceiling in a classroom in Ebb and Flow School about three weeks ago.

The community, located about 230 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, has a population of 1,400 people. More than 700 students have been displaced since the asbestos was first noticed by a school custodian at the end of February.

Band council declared a local state of emergency and students have been moved to makeshift classrooms until the community knows it's safe for them to return.

A spokesperson for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada said Ebb and Flow First Nation hired a consulting firm called Pinchin Ltd. to do an inspection of the school for asbestos.

INAC said Pinchin did not find any signs of asbestos and a test determined air quality was within safe occupational health limits.

A second consultant, Winnipeg Air Testing, was brought in to inspect the school on Feb. 29 and located an amount of vermiculite containing asbestos in the school, but determined air quality was within acceptable occupational health limits.

Darcy Houle, Ebb and Flow's fire chief and emergency coordinator, said no one will be allowed back inside the school until a professional says it's safe.

"Whenever a door slammed, it (asbestos) kind of crumbled down," said Houle.  "We got an engineer, an independent engineer from Dauphin, to come and assess the whole building and see what has to be done and repaired."

Sherri Shuttleworth has four children going to school in Ebb and Flow. She said the situation has her concerned.

"It's scary, very scary," said Shuttleworth. "I'm still very shocked."

"I'd like to know it's safe, because apparently there's confusion whether or not it is safe to go back to school there. We don't really know right now."

Ebb and Flow Chief Nelson Houle said safety is paramount and wants to wait for the engineer's report before anyone goes back inside.

"It's all about safety with the kids," said Houle. "The kids come first."

Darcy Houle said the engineer's report is expected to be ready sometime between Monday evening and Tuesday.