Man accused of faking asbestos reports for Edmonton’s largest school division

Asbestos test reports controversy A warrant is out for the arrest of an Edmonton Public Schools worker accused of falsifying test reports. Nicole Weisberg has more.

Police have charged a former worker with Edmonton Public Schools with forgery and fraud over $5,000 for allegedly faking asbestos reports over two years.

And Jason McCallum is still at large.

Police say their search for the 50-year-old has been unsuccessful so far. They issued warrants for his arrest at the end of July.

According to EPS, between May 2018 and August 2020, McCallum was hired to perform asbestos testing in schools, and it was determined those tests were falsified.

Police charged McCallum and a 48-year-old woman with the offences following a lengthy investigation.

The relationship between the two is unclear.

Eight workers 'potentially exposed' two years ago due to report 'errors'

An internal Edmonton Public Schools document – obtained through a Freedom of Information Request (FOIP) – reveals eight workers were “potentially” exposed to asbestos in May and June of 2022.

The document titled 'Summary of Potential Asbestos Exposures at the Division’s Work Sites' states in May 2022, a carpenter working on a project at Athlone School reported “questionable” lab reports to the foreman.

Work stopped while the division looked into the concern.

During the investigation, officials found “questionable” lab results for an additional site, W.P. Wagner School.

New testing determined the presence of asbestos at both schools.

The document states the original laboratory reports contained “errors” resulting in “inadequate measures” being taken to protect workers.

It says two workers were potentially exposed for up to seven hours a day in rooms 10 and 11 at Athlone School and that six workers were potentially exposed for up to eight hours a day in the boy’s second-floor washroom at W.P. Wagner School.

For privacy reasons, the names of the workers are excluded from the document as well as the “root cause” of the issue and the top “corrective action” taken.

The document says teachers and students were on holiday during much of the work, and that at Athlone School, staff were warned Room 11 may contain asbestos so no staff or students entered.

At W.P. Wagner School, it says the boys' washroom was closed off and that the lists of staff and visitors checked in showed none entered while work was being done.

‘When it first happened, I would stay awake at night thinking about it’: worker

One current and two former workers in maintenance and projects with the division say McCallum was the go-to guy for dealing with asbestos until the summer of 2022.

They say after the lab report complaint, McCallum went on vacation and never returned.

The revelation of the report “errors” still haunts them.

“The first thing I wondered is how many other schools did I expose myself at? This is the first one we found out about, but we were working there for quite a while when this happened,” said one of the former workers.

“I would stay awake at night thinking about it and thinking that this is going to kill me. And it could very well kill me.”

CTV News Edmonton has agreed to hide the workers' identities since they fear legal action from the division.

All claim McCallum was careless with safety around asbestos in general.

“He would say, 'Hey, can I borrow your hammer just to take a piece of drywall here?' And he would do it in front of others. So he wasn't wearing a mask or gloves or anything. He would just try to smash a piece of wall and put it in a bag,” said the worker still employed by Edmonton Public Schools.

They say he would often direct them to send photos of material that potentially contained asbestos and that he would clear it.

“He would say, for example, 'Oh no, don't worry. We already tested like 100 times the same material just by the picture.' So that's when we started kind of questioning.”

Safety measures overhauled

The school division confirmed the accused used to work at Edmonton Public Schools and left a couple of years ago.

The division’s chief infrastructure officer said when the issue came to light, it “spared no expense” to go through every report he was involved with.

“Additional testing occurred where it was required, so we have a good sense of what the issue was here and we did everything we could to make sure we fully understood what the implications were,” Cliff Richard told CTV News Edmonton last week.

He said he couldn’t get into the details of the investigation since police are involved

He said the division’s own investigations found students and members of the public were not put at risk.

“There were incidents where division staff were potentially at risk, and they have all been formally notified.”

He said the division audited its safety practices and made improvements including creating a new position responsible for documenting and recording hazardous material testing.

“We have implemented new checks and balances around how we procure those services," said Richard. "It's all centralized now, so there is no single person that can be entrusted to handle that very important responsibility without a double-check."

He also said all trade and project staff have had additional hazardous materials training and that any concerns can be reported anonymously.

“There is no job so urgent, there is no safety measure too expensive or too cumbersome to ever justify cutting a corner. And in the event that is found to have happened, there are accountability measures in place.”

The workers said several managers who enabled McCallum and fostered unsafe conditions at work sites remain employed.

Richard said because of privacy reasons, he could not disclose if anyone had been fired.

Accused claims police never contacted him

CTV News Edmonton was able to reach McCallum by calling his private business, MJ Restoration.

He said police never reached out to him and that he was unaware of the arrest warrant and criminal charge against him.

“Holy s—t! OK,” he responded. “I am in Saskatchewan right now.”

When asked whether he falsified asbestos reports while working at the school division he said, “Of course not. That’s ridiculous.”

He told CTV News Edmonton he was going to “check into” the issue.

Asbestos in public schools in Edmonton

According to the division’s Ten-Year Facilities Plan, most Edmonton public schools were built between 1950 and 1989 – when asbestos was used in home and building construction.

The plan says 140 buildings, or 68 per cent of its inventory, were built over these 40 years.

“We simply do not have the financial resources to abate everything,” said Richard.

If undisturbed, asbestos is safe; however during renovations or demolition, the particles can become airborne and be inhaled.

Exposure has been proven to cause cancer and other respiratory ailments such as Asbestosis or scarring of the lungs.

“If proper measures are put in place – proper containment, proper personal protective equipment, proper expertise on the job site, proper hazardous material testing to ensure folks know exactly what they're working with and all the appropriate measures are implemented – it’s safe work,” Richard said.