Maria De Medeiros arrived at the community meeting about the botched demolition on Sherman Avenue North Wednesday with a bill for $542.40 in her hand and one simple question – who was going to pay for it?

The bill was for cleaning up the dust that covered her house and van on Sept. 30 after a thick, dark cloud billowed over her neighbourhood after a structure at the former Hamilton Specialty Bar site was torn down.

"Who's going to pay this?" she asked, waving the bill as the crowd at the Cotton Factory applauded. "I need to pay this bill. I need my money back."

De Medeiros was one of about 50 residents who came out to the community meeting with questions for representatives from the city, Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MEPC) as well as Delsan-AIM, the company responsible for the demolition.

Ann Marcotte, environmental director for the company, described the dust cloud as an "unforseen event" that surprised the company as much as the public.

She said the building was stripped of equipment, washed and cleaned and that there was no visible dust when they prepared to pull it down using a controlled drop that would allow them to determine exactly where it would fall.

But, she explained, panels near the top of the structure were left in place following a risk assessment and, it turns out, all sorts of dust was packed in between, causing the cloud.

"We didn't assume the top would have this much dust," she said. "In our previous experience this is not typical to have dust trapped at the top."

'We truly apologize,' says company

Several former Specialty Bar employees who came out for the meeting challenged that assumption, saying steelmaking is a dirty business and the company should have known there would be material trapped in every part of the building.

Marcotte said the incident taught her company several lessons including to make sure more than one water truck is present for controlled drops at sites where there's no access to hydrants, using dust misters in residential areas and to remove all siding and panels even ones near the top of structures where residual dust could be present.

She also offered an email address (delsan@delsan-aim.com) and pledged the company will respond to all complaints within 48 hours.

"I know that people are not going to be sympathetic to what I'm going to say, but we did lose sleep over it," Marcotte said, pointing out that company didn't know what its workers were exposed to either. "We truly apologize."

Ann Marcotte, environmental director for Delsan-AIM speaks to a community meeting at the Cotton Factory about what caused the dust cloud. (Dan Taekema/CBC)

For some residents that didn't go far enough.

"I don't think that anything was answered and they didn't even say sorry," said Judith McGrath. "Her saying 'I apologize' is not saying that you're sorry."

The north end resident said she and her neighbours had planted gardens, but the dust cloud ruined their hopes for a harvest. They also didn't find out exactly what had coated their homes, vegetables and vehicles until the meeting.

Investigators with the MEPC used dust wipes to gather samples shortly after the demolition then provided the results to the city who hired a toxicologist to review the information.

Dust 'unlikely' to cause long-term health concerns

A summary from the city states their findings were that the material in the dust cloud were mainly mineral dust, metals and "trace" amounts of toxic chemicals such as dioxins, furans and benzo(a)pyrene.

The toxicologist determined it was "unlikely" to "result in any adverse long-term health outcomes."

During the meeting, Matt Lawson, manager of health hazards for the city, said the particles in the dust cloud were generally the same as what was found at the site.

"Particles of this size … are too large to get into the smaller portions of your lungs" where they could enter the blood stream, he explained.

"Based on all this information, being exposed to the cloud, even for an hour … would not likely cause any long-term health impact or concern."

Still, some questioned whether any testing was done to determine if any fine particulate matter, which can stay suspended in air for long periods of time, was part of the cloud.

Jeremy Gamble, a provincial officer with the MECP, said no air testing had been carried out.

Jeremy Gamble, a provincial officer with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, told the meeting no air testing had been carried out. (Dan Taekema/CBC)

He explained the ministry had not been involved in the demolition and only became aware it was happening when complaints started rolling in and colleagues told him they could see a dust cloud from their downtown office.

Gamble described the Delsan-AIM as "very cooperative," adding it had voluntarily halted any further demolitions at the site until the issue of the dust cloud can be dealt with.

In the meantime, McGrath and others say the company should be compensating the neighbourhood for what it lost.

De Medeiros described being outside with her dogs around 3 p.m. on the day of the demolition when she heard a loud bang and they seemed to disappear before her eyes.

The powder rolled through her open windows and doors, coating the inside of her house so thickly she left footprints.

She and her husband are retired and unwell. She rinsed off what she could with a garden hose, but she says she had to call in a company to give her home a deep clean. That's where the bill came in.

De Medeiros held up her bill during the meeting to ask who will pay for it. The company pledged to look into it, but did not commit to picking up the tab. (Dan Taekema/CBC)

Marcotte promised to get De Medeiros's name and take a photo of her bill. But, when it came to confirming whether the company would actually pay the cost of the cleaning, Marcotte would only say the company needs to review all complaints and can't commit to anything yet.

"Most likely, yes," she said when asked if the company would pick up the tab. "We need to go through the process."

The retiree said she's plans to hold them to that.

"I have to. I will fight."