VENTURA : Attorney Fined in Asbestos Case

A Ventura patent attorney was fined $20,000 Thursday for asbestos-removal violations at a downtown building he owns.

Marvin E. Jacobs, 55, was also placed on three years probation after he pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor charges stemming from asbestos removal at 737 E. Main St.

Knowing that it contained asbestos, Jacobs hired two laborers to remove about 2,000 square feet of ceiling tile from the two-story building, Deputy Dist. Atty. David M. Fairweather said. During the work, asbestos fibers were discharged into the air inside the building and asbestos waste was placed in a dumpster, the prosecutor said.

Asbestos was widely used in building materials until the late 1970s, when it was found to cause lung disease. Since then, state and federal laws strictly regulate how it may be handled.

Jacobs’ violations came to light when an employee of Ventura County Alcohol Services, which leases the building for a counseling center, reported the work to the county Health Department. The building was vacated for four months until the asbestos was removed properly.

On Thursday, Jacobs pleaded no contest to charges of negligently disposing of hazardous materials, negligently releasing asbestos fibers into the air and failing to follow local air-pollution control rules.

Under the law, he could have been sentenced to a year in jail and fined up to $100,000 for each charge. But Fairweather said prosecutors were not seeking jail time, and Municipal Judge Art Gutierrez agreed not to fine Jacobs more than $50,000 if he pleaded no contest.

Jacobs has also been ordered to pay a $10,500 penalty by Cal-OSHA, the state’s job safety agency. In addition, he has paid more than $70,000 for environmental cleanup at the site, Fairweather said.

Neither Jacobs nor his attorney, Robert Lee McCord Jr., returned phone calls seeking comment. In a previous interview, McCord said Jacobs did not know that asbestos was present and had to act quickly because the ceilings were leaking.

Under the law, Jacobs’ misdemeanor convictions must be reported to the California State Bar for possible disciplinary action, Fairweather said.