L.A. Charges Asbestos Violations at 3 Demolition Sites : Air quality: Prosecutors file misdemeanor complaints against the building owners and contractors under a new regulation.

Calling improper building demolitions a major source of airborne asbestos, Los Angeles city prosecutors Thursday filed three criminal complaints accusing building owners and contractors of asbestos violations at demolition sites in Van Nuys and Los Angeles.

The three misdemeanor cases, along with four others filed last month in Municipal Court, appear to be the first criminal prosecutions under a new regulation that tightened controls on demolition and renovation of asbestos-containing buildings, regional air quality officials said. City prosecutors said they expect to file complaints in other cases soon.

Asbestos, a fibrous mineral once widely used in floor tiles, roofing, insulation and other building materials, has been linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma, a rare and almost invariably fatal form of cancer. Asbestos materials are safe when intact, but when broken or pulverized can release fibers that are hazardous if inhaled.

The defendants are accused of failing to carefully remove asbestos before tearing into buildings, which can loose hazardous asbestos fibers into the air. Of the seven prosecutions, four involve the razing of single-family houses or small apartments, which were exempt until the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s tough new rule took effect at the start of this year.

The “cavalier handling of asbestos, either through ignorance or indifference, is a major public health problem due to the sheer volume of the material which exists in older small buildings that now are being razed or renovated,” City Atty. Jim Hahn said in a prepared statement.

For years the air district enforced federal regulations covering demolition or renovation of asbestos-containing buildings. The rules require that asbestos material be carefully wetted, removed and packaged for disposal, that demolition workers have safety training, and that air district inspectors have advance notice so they can monitor the work.

However, the federal regulations exempted single-family residences and apartment buildings of four units or less. They also excused jobs in which the amount of asbestos to be disturbed was less than 160 square feet or 260 linear feet.

The new rule, which took effect Jan. 1, eliminated those exemptions in the South Coast district, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Now, single family residences are covered and safety rules apply to all demolition and renovation jobs, regardless of the volume of asbestos. Owner-occupants of single-family residences cannot be charged with violations, but their contractors can.

“I guess there’s a trend in Southern California to buy a house on a piece of land and demolish it, . . . so a good percentage of demolitions and renovations involve structures that . . . are not covered by federal regulations,” said Deputy City Atty. Donald Kass.

Before the new rule, residential projects “were a real concern for us” as a large “cumulative source” of airborne asbestos, said Edwin Pupka, senior enforcement manager for the air district’s air toxics control branch.

No matter how unsafe the work, “we had absolutely no authority whatsoever . . . to investigate a potential exposure” Pupka said.

Since the new rule took effect, the air district has beefed up its enforcement effort, typically assigning four or five inspectors to asbestos cases, compared to two or three last year.

Violation notices have also increased--from 49 in 1988 and 55 in 1989--to 67 through the first three quarters of this year, according to air district figures. Frequently, violation notices are issued to more than one party in each case.

Some notices result in negotiated settlements and penalties paid to the district, but others are referred to county or city prosecutors for criminal prosecution.

One of the cases filed Thursday involved the demolition last January of two houses in Van Nuys to make room for a 28-unit condominium project. In razing the houses at Hamlin Street and Kester Avenue, workers tore up vinyl flooring containing 5% asbestos without taking precautions, according to air district citations filed with the complaint.

One of the site owners and the demolition contractor pleaded ignorance about the asbestos rule when cited Jan. 11, according to the report by the inspector. But when he returned the next day, workmen still were handling the flooring without wetting it down or wearing protective clothing, he said.

Bruce M. Kates and Alan Shuman, owners of the site, and Ike and Sigal Yarom, described as officers of the demolition firm, were each charged with failure to properly remove asbestos; to test for asbestos before demolishing the buildings; to properly package and dispose of asbestos material; and to comply with record-keeping requirements.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Kates said he and Shuman later hired a licensed asbestos contractor to remove the material. “We were asked to do it correctly, we did do it correctly. Beyond that, I don’t know what the hell we can do,” Kates said.

Ike Yarom said he was unaware of the complaint and was not an officer of the demolition firm.

Another complaint involved the demolition of an asbestos-containing apartment complex at 500 S. Berendo St. in Los Angeles. The defendant in that case, demolition contractor James T. Rudometkin, said he had asked the owner for an asbestos survey of the building before starting work, and had been told that no asbestos was found.