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A Viterra spokesman said the company is not responsible for the notices, which gave people such as artist Kate MacDonald their first knowledge of the project.

“You could see there’s a crane over there, but there’s always cranes on the port,” said MacDonald, whose studio looks out over the demolition site and whose condo is close by. “I’ve received texts from people in the building freaking out about it.”

Viterra directs concerned citizens to its website, but MacDonald said she finds little assurance in the company’s information sheet.

“Viterra says they’re going to manage it responsibly, but it’s hard to know who even to reach out to. There’s asbestos, there’s going to be concrete dust, but they do use water remediation techniques and stuff to keep down the dust.”

MacDonald did get a reply from city hall, which has no jurisdiction over the port.

“The City of Vancouver has no regulatory oversight of the project and did not issue any permits for the work,” Paul Mochrie, deputy city manager, wrote, adding the port has provided the city with information regarding oversight of the project.

No one is disputing the condemned structures must come down, only the assurances nothing will go wrong.

“I’m not sure if (Viterra) could do anything that’s going to reassure people now after somebody put up those inflammatory notices,” MacDonald said.

The notice reads, in part: “Be ware of possible exposure to hazardous materials particles in the air. These particles are dangerous to human health, especially to children and small animals.”