Asbestos Removal Firm Fined $15,000 by EPA

CST Environmental Inc. has agreed to pay a $15,000 penalty to settle a federal complaint that it used an untrained worker to help remove asbestos from a Los Angeles elementary school 20 months ago.

The Anaheim company did not acknowledge liability in settling the action brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA brought its action under a federal law requiring contractors who remove asbestos from schools to ensure that their workers are accredited by state or federal environmental agencies.

David McFadden, the EPA’s assistant regional counsel in San Francisco, said the fraudulently certified worker did not cause any harm to the environment while working at Malabar Street Elementary School in July, 1992.

Sage Khara, owner of the privately held firm, said that the worker was certified in Nevada and that the institution he allegedly attended verified his training there. It later turned out that the training school was wrong.