Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 03/99) - More asbestos has turned up at Grollier Hall.

Despite that, the firm undertaking the school's demolition says it hopes to complete the project by the end of the month.

Don Spurrell, general manger of consulting with Northern Management Development Ltd., said Tuesday that while removal of asbestos insulation from beneath the school was completed late last week, more has since been discovered.

"They've located more asbestos in the main floor walls," he said. "It was in concealed spaces so wasn't detected until the workers started opening the walls."

Spurrell said Pete Gravel of Vision Industrial Group out of Alberta remains on the site and has already begun work on removing the new asbestos find -- a job Spurrell said could take two weeks.

The Workers' Compensation Board issued a stop-work order on the affected areas of the hall on July 14. The Department of Public Works brought in Yellowknife's Bryant Environmental Consultants Ltd. to perform an assessment of the site and of the removal work.

Wayne Bryant was on site last week, working alongside Gravel as he removed some 40 pounds of asbestos -- in the form of concrete pipe insulation -- from the crawl space under the school.

Meanwhile, Spurrell said Northern Management is also responsible for the demolition of the laundromat on Mackenzie Road. He said the asbestos removal has been completed on the site but that contract negotiations with the client are ongoing.