ATWATER VILLAGE : $60,000 Fine Levied in Asbestos Removal Case

The owner of an asbestos abatement company was fined a record-setting $60,000 on Wednesday for failing to properly contain and remove cancer-causing asbestos from an Atwater Village demolition site.

Augustine Camacho Alvarez, owner of Santee-based Insultec Inc., pleaded no contest to one violation of the Hazardous Waste Control Act in the demolition of two buildings at Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road last April.

Deputy Los Angeles City Atty. Vincent B. Sato said that after Air Quality Management District inspectors found eight unprotected, untrained workers using their hands to wreck asbestos-containing materials, Insultec was ordered to post health hazard warnings, wet down the asbestos to prevent it from becoming airborne, and develop an immediate plan to remove it. But when the inspector returned six days later, nothing had been done to comply with the order.

“There was a public health threat and it should have taken a matter of hours to contain it and begin mitigation,” Sato said. The fine, which Alvarez paid Tuesday in Municipal Court, will be used for state and county hazardous materials training programs, Sato said. He said it was the largest fine in an asbestos case ever levied in the city.