The only business in the sheds was shut down yesterday and Port Otago traffic management was put in place to ensure car parks remained empty, once vehicles left the area.
Building-owner Port Otago contacted the Otago Daily Times and then hosted a meeting of about seven neighbours and building tenants, who met near the wharf.
Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Keith Reid said there was ''only a low level of risk, although it is not zero'', to the public who had used the area.
Mr Reid said any wider testing would come under WorkSafe regulations.
A building owner and developer, Russell Lund, noted Fryatt St was subject to high winds at times and asked how far the asbestos could extend, and whether that could be tested.
''The bigger issue is [that] half the area has asbestos roofs ... all in the same condition,'' he said.
The ''harbourside precinct'' has been tagged for a variety of developments, but Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders did not think the asbestos find was an issue.
''No, I don't believe this is a clanger for the harbourside development in anyway,'' Mr Winders said following the meeting.
Mr Winders said the wharfside shed, which he understood did not have a historic designation, was already on an ''asbestos register''.
However, because the building was largely non-operational or used only occasionally for storage, Port Otago had not been focusing on its asbestos issue.
Mr Winders was unsure if Port Otago was specifically insured for asbestos issues.
Stuart Keer-Keer, managing director of specialist asbestos company K2 Environmental, said in his Asbestos Assessment for Port Otago, asbestos dust was detected within the old sheds, and the soil outside.
He also believed the public risk was ''low level'', saying anyone parking in the area would have to be exposed repeatedly to large doses of asbestos to cause any health concerns.
''The immediate risk now is low,'' Mr Keer-Keer said.
He said it was not coming off the roof airborne, but fibres had been washed to the ground with rain, and after warm weather then became airborne; hence the dust on the woman's car.
The hundreds of sheets of Super Six asbestos, thought to be have been in place since the 1950s and 1960s, break down over time after the acid in rainfall ''dissolved'' the cement and released asbestos fibres, which were then washed off, to the ground, he said.
''This [dissolving process] starts from day one [of installation],'' he said of the corrugated concrete sheets.
Mr Winders said a member of the public had found powder on her car on February 1, across the road from the warehouse.
That complaint prompted Port Otago to bring in asbestos specialists K2 to test the area on February 8. They delivered their report on Thursday evening.
''They detected asbestos in the sheds, and outside, coming off the canopy,'' Mr Winders said.
Mr Winders said adhesive spray would probably be used, as a ''stop-gap'' measure, to fix asbestos residue, before a long-term management plan was devised.
Mr Winders said the present focus was safe containment of the area, and it would be up to two weeks before details of options and specific plans would be available.
Containers would be in place by today to isolate the area and fencing from Christchurch would be going up from Tuesday.
It appears the road area will be out of bounds for several weeks. The wharf side of the old sheds is also closed off. Owners of boats moored there have limited access and could be moved to other berths, if required, in the future.
