U.S. Sues Firm Over Asbestos Removal on Ship

A ship repair company and its president have been charged with improperly removing asbestos from an aircraft carrier, potentially endangering hundreds of sailors as well as their own employees.

The U.S. attorney’s office, which filed the charges Monday against California Marine Commercial Insulation Inc. and its president and owner, Frank Chavez, contends that the firm knowingly failed to ensure that workers took proper precautions when they removed more than 260 feet of pipes covered with dry, crumbling asbestos from the carrier Ranger.

Investigators and some employees allege that workers wore no protective clothing, tore out asbestos while sailors were present, toted dust-laden pipes through bunk and kitchen areas and piled loose asbestos in dumpsters, all in violation of federal asbestos removal laws.

Chavez has denied any wrongdoing and said that all the work aboard the aircraft carrier was done properly.

The charges sprang from an eight-month investigation by the Naval Investigative Service, which had received complaints from CMCI employees. The case will be the first of its kind in the nation to be controlled by new federal sentencing guidelines, said Melanie Pierson, assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego. A guilty verdict could result in a $25,000 fine and a six-month jail term.