Asbestos testing remains Port Otago's focus as it seeks to finalise its options on dealing with aged and degraded corrugated cement sheets on one of its wharf-side properties.
Port Otago closed off one side of Fryatt St in Dunedin's upper harbour last week after a 360m long shed roofed with hundreds of cement sheets was found to be shedding asbestos fibres.
Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said yesterday initial containment was almost complete. Shipping containers were being replaced by fencing to keep up to 50 vehicles a day from parking next to the sheds where asbestos was on the ground.
He said the focus was testing the only tenant's workspace, a small recycling plant, then cleaning its equipment and likely moving it to another Port Otago property.
Each space within the expansive warehouse would have to be tested individually to assess its level of asbestos contamination, then cleaning methods decided on, he said.
''Ultimately, we need an asbestos management plan, likely by the end of next week,'' he said.
It was too early to consider all potential options, but removal or mitigation were being considered, Mr Winders saying ''mitigation is looking unlikely''.
The 50 to 60-year-old Super Six cement sheets, impregnated with white asbestos, can be coated with an adhesive spray, but asbestos specialists have said that measure was only ''a temporary fix''.