Sept. 12, 2022 – For immediate release:

Mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari is sounding the alarm and calling for action on asbestos cement pipes in Winnipeg.

Rana Bokhari says she will resume testing Winnipeg’s water for asbestos and fight for the federal government to include Winnipeg’s aging water pipe system in their upcoming infrastructure review.

“We have not tested Winnipeg’s water for asbestos fibres since 1995,” says Rana. “As research into the issue of asbestos in water pipes and the possibly detrimental effect on human health has continued for the past 30 years, it’s become increasingly obvious that we are ignoring a major potential health hazard in our water system.

There are more than 730 km of the old pipes delivering water to homes of thousands of Winnipeg residents. 

There is evidence the pipes were deteriorating decades ago. A 1977 Health and Welfare Canada study shows the level of asbestos in Winnipeg’s water was high 45 years ago. In a late 1980’s study commissioned by the City of Winnipeg, it was recommended that water be tested at 10 locations on an annual basis.

“One of my highest priorities is to protect the health and safety of Winnipeg citizens. I and the residents of our city deserve to know more about this issue.

“It is absolutely unacceptable to keep Winnipeggers in the dark about this potential hazard.”

About 30 per cent of Winnipeg’s aging water pipes are asbestos cement. While this is not normally a concern, it becomes a health hazard when water pipes deteriorate or break. In 2020, 65 of the 281 water main breaks (23 per cent) occurred in asbestos pipes in Winnipeg.

A US study in 2018 showed that asbestos cement pipes in North America are more prone to breakage as they age, and water main breaks are up 43 per cent since 2012.

When they do deteriorate, they tend to do in a “catastrophic” fashion, unlike iron and plastic which generally develop minor leaks. Then more asbestos fibres leach into waterways. 

One study out of New Zealand described some of their aging asbestos cement pipes – about the same age as Winnipeg’s, which were installed from the 1930s through the ‘70s – as having the consistency of “wet cardboard” and depositing both long and short asbestos fibres into their water supply at high concentrations.

Winnipeg’s pipes are now 27 years older since the water in them was last tested for asbestos. 

The US’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulated asbestos fibres in water in the 1970s when health concerns first came to light.

However, Health Canada said in 1989 that “there is no consistent, convincing evidence that ingested asbestos is hazardous,” and recently reiterated that claim. Since then, numerous studies from National Research Council Canada, and countries such as the US and Italy say that drinking asbestos fibres is a health concern.

“I find it hard to believe that the health concerns simply change at the border,” said Rana.

“The latest data I have been able to find is Winnipeg’s water pipes had about 12 MFL (maximum contaminant level per litre), and that was in 1986.”

In the US, the EPA requires levels at or lower than 7 MFL. “Our pipes are now 45 years older from the 1977 report and we have no idea what the asbestos fibre level is in our water. We need to know this information immediately and act on it.”

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For more information:

Elisha Dacey
204-290-8009
team@rana4wpg.ca