Dripping water pipes plague leaky archives building, threaten ...

Dripping water pipes plague leaky archives building, threatendocuments

1 day ago

OTTAWA — Canada's national archives building is so prone toleaks that it sprang another one last month just as workers werecleaning up the mess from a flood days earlier.

The showcase building near Parliament Hill was given a secondsoaking June 1 when a cold-water valve in a women's washroomfailed, internal documents show.

The leak triggered a fire alarm, and flooded two corridors as wellas an area where books are stacked, though no volumes were damagedbecause a tarp had been thrown over them by workers cleaning up aMay 20 flood.

The first flood, caused by a broken pipe in a washroom, also setoff a fire alarm and damaged more than 400 books in the basement.Some of them required freeze-drying but nothing was lost.

Although Library and Archives Canada staff played down the May 20flood, and never issued a release about the June 1 incident, leakshave become a way of life at the nondescript structure, opened in1967 just west of Parliament Hill.

In the last 20 years, there have been at least 83 soakings at thefacility, with causes ranging from burst pipes and overflowingtoilets to faulty roofing, documents obtained by The Canadian Pressunder the Access to Information Act show.

An archives spokesman told news media in May that flooding problemshad abated since 2004, when the roof was repaired, but records showthere have been at least 12 leaks since then. An inundation on the8th floor in August 2006, for example, soaked 57 volumes.

Thousands of rare books and documents have been badly damaged bywater over the years, including one 1999 deluge that soaked 7,825items.

The auditor general in 2003 estimated more than 30,000 documentshad been damaged by excess heat or water at the aging headquartersbuilding since 1988, costing at least $4.5 million in repairs orreplacements.

The security guard who came across the May 20, 2008, leak during anovernight shift "saw water coming down the ceiling like NiagaraFalls," says one report.

An investigation later placed the blame on renovations that werecompleted a decade earlier to make space for a washroom for thedisabled.

"At the time the existing plumbing was capped and the new wallconcealed the pipes," says an internal report.

"Visual inspection of the pipe has been impossible for 10 yearsmaking this incident unpreventable."

About a third of Canada's collection of historical documents iskept in a modern, secure facility in nearby Gatineau, Que., whichhas numerous safeguards against water and humidity.

But the building, opened in 1997, is now full and none of theremaining nine buildings run by Library and Archives Canada meetsmodern standards for preservation. A planned expansion of theGatineau building has been on hold for a decade.

A spokesman says the aging headquarters building at 395 WellingtonSt. has been improved over the years, including installation ofwater-detection sensors and a so-called dry sprinkler system tohelp protect against water damage.

"There are things we've done to strengthen 395," said Doug Rimmer,assistant deputy minister of programs and services. Rare materialshave also been moved off-site to better protect them.

But plans to create a second state-of-the-art facility like the onein Gatineau remain on the drawing board, he said.

In 2004, the federal government merged the National Library and thePublic Archives into a single entity.

The headquarters building mostly houses books, but some manuscriptsand other documents are kept there for public consultation. Thebuilding also frequently plays host to exhibitions of historic andrare documents.

A chronology of some of the most serious floods and leaks at themain Library and Archives Canada building near Parliament Hill:

July 4, 1990: Burst pipe soaks 555 books, most of which have to befreeze-dried.

Oct. 23, 1990: Water used by contractor soaks 26 documents, whichhave to be freeze-dried; 143 others items damaged.

April 10, 1991: Roofing problem and heavy rain severely damage twoboxes of files, and dampen 26 other boxes.

Aug. 12-16, 1991: Water leak of unknown cause damages 33 books.

Jan. 19, 1992: Water from broken pipe soaks 60 documents, which aresent to be freeze-dried; another 1,620 items air-dried.

Sept. 21, 1993: Cooling tower overflow soaks more than 2,500 booksin the basement.

Mar. 16, 1994: Leaking pipe damages 1,800 books in the basement.

Aug. 28, 1995: Laboratory equipment malfunction severelywater-damages 113 items, which are sent to be freeze-dried; 32other items air-dried.

Mar. 3, 1996: Cooling equipment leak dampens 644 volumes.

May 30, 1996: 33 mostly over-size books are damaged after watertank leaks.

Aug. 8, 1996: Sewage backup damages about 93 items.

Aug. 12, 1996: Roof leak soaks 17 books, which requirefreeze-drying.

Mar. 30, 1998: Blocked drain leaves 317 items wet.

Jan. 2, 1999: Burst pipe damages 7,825 publications.

Mar. 6, 2002: Welding accident soaks "irreplaceable" New Brunswickgovernment documents from 1917 to 1938.

Aug. 28, 2006: Water leak of unspecified cause damages 57 books.

May 20, 2008: More than 400 books water-damaged after pipe inwashroom bursts.