Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders, who went public on the issue last week, believes the problem is not a issue for the proposed redevelopment of the "harbourside precinct", where Port Otago is a major landholder.
"Owners are dealing with this [reroofing] with their developments," Mr Winders said.
However, removal of asbestos is a strictly regulated regime, and when considering removal and remediation costs applied on an industrial scale, that could run into millions of dollars.
Port Otago’s 360m long wharfside warehouse in Fryatt St has been shedding asbestos fibres from hundreds of Super Six corrugated cement sheets.
The area is now cordoned off and there are restrictions in place for boat owners.
The same brand of corrugated sheets appear to be on building roofs throughout much of the "harbourside precinct", an area tagged for a variety of developments going back more than a decade.
At a building-owner and tenant meeting hosted by Port Otago last Friday, developer and building owner Russell Lund questioned the possible extent of asbestos roofs in the area.
"What can of worms is opening for other building owners in this area," Mr Lund asked, of Port Otago’s having gone public after receiving a formal asbestos report the day before.
He asked what Port Otago’s long-term plan was, to which Mr Winders said the immediate focus was containment of the affected area, and then to have professional advice available within about two weeks.
Both Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Keith Reid and Stuart Keer-Keer, managing director of specialist asbestos company K2 Environmental, were at Friday’s meeting and were confident the immediate public risk was "low".
