Lead paint to be removed from Surrey pool houses

Four Surrey pool houses will get a fresh coat of paint to prevent swimmers from being exposed to lead.

The paint removal and repainting will be done as a precautionary measure after testing revealed lead-based paint was used on the concrete-block walls of the change rooms at Royal Kwantlen, Bear Creek, Port Kells and Greenaway outdoor pools, said a statement from the City of Surrey facilities division.

Like many buildings constructed in the early 1960s, the pool houses were originally painted with a leadbased paint. Since the health risks associated with ingesting lead have become known, city workers have been regularly checking for chipping and peeling paint.

Infrastructure funding prompted the city to begin lead abatement at several pools last year. The last four pools will be completed in 2018.

“The lead abatement program is a proactive initiative of facilities, and there has been no incident or risk to date that (has) surfaced,” said the statement provided to Postmedia. “Having the lead abatement done will mitigate all risk and minimize our regular paint chipping or peeling monitoring requirements.”

Before the 1960s, the use of lead-based paint was widespread in Canada and the United States. A report released in 2007 by antipoverty group ACORN estimated that nearly a quarter of Canadian children lived in homes built before 1960. The government banned paint containing more than 0.5 per cent lead in 1976, and it has been phased out of almost all paints since 1991.

Research shows that even very small amounts of lead can have “harmful health effects on the intellectual and behavioural development of infants and young children,” according to HealthLink.

Lead-based paint does not present a health hazard as long as the paint is not chipping, flaking, crushed or sanded into dust.

As a result, removal can pose significant challenges, said WorkSafeBC prevention field services director Dan Strand. “Paint chips or dust can be inhaled or ingested and cause serious problems.”

A series of protocols need to be followed to ensure safe removal, and construction companies must inform WorkSafeBC when they’ll be working with hazardous materials like lead paint, he said. Sometimes, however, the paint is hidden beneath other layers of paint.

According to a Request for Proposals posted on the B.C. Bid website about the Surrey pools, the lead paint is found on concrete block walls, metal door frames and metal doors at each of the four outdoor facilities, as well as on wood soffits at Royal Kwantlen, Port Kells and Greenaway.

It will be removed using a combination of “abrasive blasting, hand grinding and hand demolition.” The work area setup will include a full polyethylene enclosure with a three-stage decontamination chamber at the entrance.

Having the lead abatement done willmitigateall risk and minimize our regular paint chipping or peeling monitoring requirements.