Calgary Area Residents Urged to Abandon Homes

October 17, 2006 - CBC News reports that hundreds of residents in a native community just west of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) are being urged to leave their homes, which officials believe have long been contaminated with airborne asbestos.

A fire at one of the homes in the Tsuu T'ina Nation settlement known as Black Bear Crossing led to the discovery of the asbestos and, subsequently, the suggestion by local officials that other residents in the homes find alternate housing.

Morton Paulsen, a spokesman for the Tsuu T'ina Nation, told CBC News that he's concerned some people may have been exposed.

"Because of the deterioration of many of these units, Health Canada thought further investigation was necessary to determine if there was an airborne threat," he said.

The homes of Black Bear Crossing are actually abandoned military barracks.  When the barracks closed in 1998, native families began to move in, even though the chief and council of the tribe suggested otherwise, fearing that the homes were unsafe.  However, during the years since the military left the homes, more than 800 individuals from the Tsuu T’ina Nation have taken up residence at Black Bear.

Some residents, however, believe they are being pushed from their homes because the council has other ideas for the land.  They’ve already begun the construction of a casino nearby.  So, many of the squatters have decided to stay put until further proof that they’re in harms way.

Health Canada has announced that further testing will begin later this week.