Three families in southern Ontario are outraged Thursday after they all received eviction notices from the government claiming their homes must be destroyed because of mold.

The families -- two living in the city of Pickering, just east of Toronto, and another just north of Pickering -- were mailed letters from Public Works of Canada claiming it had obtained demolition permits and the families must be out by the end of the month.

When the families all asked why their homes were being demolished, all were told it was because their houses were infected with a type of mold.

All of the families are living on federal land expropriated back in the 1970s for the proposed Pickering Airport. The airport was never built, but the evictions 20 years later have raised concern that the project will go ahead as soon as September.

Pickering City Council, however, has vowed to block the evictions by denying the issuance of demolition permits.

We are taking the position that Transport Canada or Public Works Canada has no business demolishing homes or any pieces of property anywhere on any land in the city of Pickering, said City Counselor Maurice Brenner.

He said the council had already designated one of the homes a historical site.