TOP STORY: Asbestos scare in city flats

The discovery of asbestos dust in one of 10 council flats has prompted a health scare among several elderly women.
Greerton's Fay Dooley, a mild asthmatic, is going for a health check today to see whether she has contracted asbestosis - a lung disease caused by the inhalation of the potentially fatal asbestos fibres.
It is the second time the Pooles Rd resident has been exposed to the dust. A similar build-up of dust on the inside of her front walls and windows about 18 months ago went unrecognised, even although her flat has an asbestos roof.
However this time the repairs were put in the hands of a more vigilant builder who immediately reported his suspicions to the council early this month.
Tests showed the dust contained the same less harmful white variety of asbestos as found in the roof sheeting.
The council immediately swung into action, announcing it would replace the asbestos roofs on all 10 flats on the road.
It has also offered to evacuate the 10 residents to a motel for the month it would take to organise a contract and re-roof the flats.
At a meeting with pensioners yesterday, only Mrs Dooley took the offer. "I feel I have been placed at risk - the dust should have been checked for asbestos first time around."
Residents were reassured by the results of four hours of airborne testing in Mrs Dooley's flat last Thursday. Health protection officer Helen Vanderwerf said not a single fibre of asbestos was sucked into a filter during the test.
Day-to-day air movement was not enough to stir up the dust, she said.
She described the asbestos found in Mrs Dooley's flat as "historical dust" that could not have come off the underside of the roof.
Council property manager Anthony Averill said the dust could have come from under the perimeter of the roof, stirred up by repairs two years ago.
Mr Averill denied that the council had shown neglect by not testing the dust when it was first noticed.
"It was routine maintenance and the asbestos flag was not raised. The builder that went out to do the work hadn't raised any concerns with us - we are now using a different builder."
Mrs Dooley's neighbour Pat McQueen was also hit by an earlier leakage of dust when it seeped through gaps in her roof panels.
She remembered the dust lingering for weeks rather than months. It was fixed by batons being fixed over the gaps.
The announcement on Friday that the dust probably contained asbestos initially shocked her, but she has had no health problems that suggested inhaling asbestos.
Mrs McQueen said the council had reacted quickly and supportively. However the discovery has prompted other village residents to question the alertness of the council and whether any nasties had slipped through the gaps in their ceilings.
Ironically, Margaret Scott's 74-year-old brother Joe has asbestosis. She said Joe headed James Hardies' carpentry division in Auckland, where he spent years working with asbestos every day.
"I could have it now - I don't know. People might have it and they don't know - it is a long time killing you," she said.
Both Mrs Scott and Mrs Dooley wonder about the health of their lungs anyway - Mrs Dooley still smokes while Mrs Scott quit years ago after half a lifetime of smoking.
The rest of the Pooles Rd flats are being examined for asbestos over the next two days.
None of the council's other 237 retirement flats have asbestos roofing.