Local News in Brief : Plant Owner Charged
A Compton manufacturer was charged Wednesday with deliberately exposing a demolition crew and his own employees to hazardous airborne asbestos fibers in order to cut costs on a demolition project at his plant.
Joseph R. Manzer, 43, owner of Sierra Industries Inc., which manufactures heat exchangers, was charged by the district attorney’s office with four felony counts of illegally disposing of asbestos.
He was also charged with three misdemeanors involving illegal handling of asbestos and failure to notify the South Coast Air Quality Management District of a demolition project involving asbestos.
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