NORTH HOLLYWOOD : 2 Plead No Contest in Asbestos Case

Two men pleaded no contest Wednesday to charges that they worked as safety monitors on a North Hollywood asbestos removal project without being qualified to do so.

Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Harold S. Vites ordered Dennis J. Gray, 33, and Ivan D. Paxton, 27, who had worked at a city Department of Transportation building in North Hollywood, to pay a total of $13,500 in fines and surcharges.

Gray and Paxton, who were not certified asbestos safety monitors at the time, nonetheless monitored concentration levels of airborne asbestos at the facility in the spring of 1993. In June of that year, after they had been caught working illegally, they earned their certifications.

Deputy City Atty. Vincent B. Sato, who handled the case, denied that the city had been overly aggressive in prosecuting the men.

“The law is quite clear,” he said. “You can’t act as a site surveillance technician independently without being certified by the state. That’s a crime. . . . A consultant has an economic incentive to use uncertified people while (a certified supervisor) is not there because they can do more sites, to make more money. That’s why the penalties are so harsh--to discourage this kind of practice.”

Sato said there were no signs that the public or asbestos workers had been exposed to unsafe levels of the substance, which if inhaled can cause lung disease.

Stephen Sadowsky, Gray’s and Paxton’s attorney, said the law in this matter is not clear.

“We’re dealing with a new statute, which is very poorly written,” he said. “(Gray and Paxton) and their employer were under the impression that they could do the work that they were doing on an asbestos-related project. The fines were heavy, but . . . for them to fight the matter would have been far more expensive. The employer decided that it was best for everyone concerned to try to resolve the case, and that’s what happened.”

The negotiated settlement provided for Paxton to pay $8,100 in fines and surcharges and Gray, $5,400. If the case had gone to trial, they could have had to pay as much as $97,200 between the two of them, Sadowsky said.

Cal/OSHA officials found the two technicians working at the facility when they inspected the asbestos removal project in May, Sato said. The building, at 12544 Saticoy St., is a former warehouse being used by the parking enforcement bureau.