Despite concerns from both residents of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) and even some local officials, the city government continues to maintain that any concern about asbestos-containing asphalt used on city roads is unwarranted and that the mineral does not pose a health hazard.

“Through our testing and our professional associations, as long as the asbestos is in the asphalt, it’s basically coated in oil and cemented into that mixture. It is not prone to become free or airborne,” said Calgary alderman Mac Logan, who added that Calgary stopped using asbestos in its asphalt in the late 1980s. “The only place we’ve seen it become freed-up from the mix is when we do destructive testing.”

Logan’s comments came just a day after two other aldermen raised concerns about the hazardous mineral. But Logan says driving on the roads or milling them for repairs does not cause fibers to be released. The other alderman recanted their original statements, saying they were satisfied that the asphalt was not a problem after reading reports about the use of the mineral in the roadways.

Canada is fiercely protective of its use of asbestos as it is one of just a handful of countries that continues to mine “white” chrysotile asbestos. The Canadian asbestos mines, located in Quebec province, sell the mineral to Third World countries that still use it in construction projects because it is cheap and readily available. Canada has continuously fought to keep asbestos off a list of banned substances that should not be imported or exported to developing countries.

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