EPA Sues 34 Firms Charging Violations in Asbestos Removal

The Environmental Protection Agency began filing lawsuits today in nearly a dozen states against demolition companies that allegedly failed to take proper precautions while working on asbestos-ridden buildings.

Civil lawsuits were filed by the Justice Department in eight cities and additional court papers were expected to be filed later in the day naming a total of 34 defendants in connection with violations of asbestos removal requirements, the EPA said.

“Today’s coast-to-coast effort to punish violators is a message to those who ignore the law,” said Henry Habicht, EPA deputy administrator. “Asbestos is a known cause of cancer in humans, and it can be a killer.”

Civil Penalties

Habicht said the agency intends to enforce requirements for safety measures when dealing with asbestos removal by seeking civil penalties from companies that do not comply with the safeguards.

The EPA officials declined to name all the defendants until the court papers are filed. The eight lawsuits filed today involved work on school buildings in Missouri, Kansas and Washington state as well as various buildings from warehouses to restaurants in Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Nevada.

Papers were also being prepared for civil action involving work on at least 80 school buildings in New York City, officials said.

Federal law requires certain precautions when removing asbestos from buildings so that its microscopic fibers are not spread through the air. Violators can be subject to up to a $25,000 fine per violation and face criminal prosecution in some cases.

The inhalation of asbestos fibers is known to cause lung cancer, asbestosis, a scarring of the lung, and mesothelioma, a cancer of the chest and abdomen. Asbestos was used in past years in insulation and other building materials.

Particles Linger in Air

Improper removal practices pose health risks to construction workers and people who return to the building or to other nearby buildings since asbestos particles often linger in the air for a long time.

The EPA estimates that up to half of all asbestos-involved renovations may be done without the precautions required by the federal Clean Air Act.

The EPA officials said that none of the new actions involves criminal charges but that civil penalties in some of the cases could be more than $250,000.

Agency sources said papers were also to be filed later in the day as a result of violations in California and Florida.

In one case, a contractor was being cited for transporting wine tanks by helicopter from a winery in San Jose without removing asbestos insulation pads, causing asbestos particles to scatter over miles of countryside.

Other cases involved a Nevada casino; an apartment building in Philadelphia; a boiler room at the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va.; the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, and two Seattle restaurants.

Harvard Study

The EPA crackdown comes only weeks after a Harvard University study indicated that in many cases the improper removal of asbestos from buildings may pose more of a health risk than leaving the material in the building.

The study by Harvard’s Energy and Environmental Policy Center suggested that if precautions are not taken, the “removal of asbestos may actually increase exposure to building occupants” as well as workers involved in the renovation.