MCA Fined for Alleged Release of Asbestos : Cal/OSHA: Universal City Studios’ parent firm and five other defendants deny the accusations and have appealed to a state board.

MCA Inc. and five firms hired for post-quake work at Universal City Studios have been fined more than $100,000 for illegally releasing asbestos into the air while remodeling sound stages, state job safety officials said.

All six defendants have denied the allegations and appealed to a board of the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health. A spokeswoman for MCA, Universal’s parent company, said the firm is confident it will win the appeal.

Members of a film production crew working on the television show “seaQuest DSV” told state investigators about the potential for exposure to asbestos in March, when construction workers spent weeks stripping sound stage walls to make damage assessments after the Northridge earthquake.

The total of fines levied against MCA, Universal’s parent company, and its contractors is an unusually high figure for Cal/OSHA, which regulates exposure of the potentially harmful airborne fibers in the workplace, according to the agency’s deputy chief, Mark Carleson.

“One hundred thousand dollars would certainly be at the higher end of our penalties,” he said.

Five violations for which MCA was fined a total of $15,000 range from a failure to post warning signs near the sites of asbestos removal to failure to provide required medical examinations for film crew members within 30 days after exposure to asbestos.

Another 43 citations were issued to these construction companies: Clark-Porche Construction Co. Inc. of El Monte, with 11 violations; GEMI Inc. of Arcadia, 10 violations; Golden State Framers Inc. of Placentia, nine violations; Prieto Construction Co. Inc. of Irvine, 11 violations; and Turner Construction Co. of Downtown Los Angeles, two violations.

State investigators allege that all the construction companies except for Turner Construction improperly disposed of asbestos and endangered the health of their own workers by not providing them with respiratory protection.

MCA spokeswoman Christine Hanson said her company has complied with the state agency’s regulations. She noted that earthquake repair work continues at Universal City Studios.

“Since it’s a pending legal situation, it’s inappropriate to discuss,” she said. “The grounds for appeal will be successful.”

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is concerned with outdoor air quality, also investigated complaints from “seaQuest” crew members about asbestos exposure at the studios, but found no violations, according to AQMD spokesman Sam Atwood.

The disparate findings made by Cal/OSHA and the AQMD are not uncommon because the agencies have separate ways of dealing with asbestos investigations. During its on-site inspection, Atwood said, the AQMD did not find any signs of the tiny lung-scarring fibers that have been linked to ailments such as lung cancer.

One employee said he believed scores of film crew members for “seaQuest” and other productions were exposed to asbestos after construction workers used crowbars and sledgehammers to strip the stucco walls of 12 sound stages, according to one behind-the-scenes worker on the “seaQuest” set.

Insulation from inside the walls tumbled to the ground during the remodeling work.

“Everybody assumed that if the asbestos was here that MCA would know about it and not expose us to any danger,” said the crew member, who declined to be identified for fear of being blacklisted in the industry.

“There were two complete days when I was working on stage with a crew of 15 to 30 and it was so dusty, more than half of us were coughing.

“On the positive side, I don’t believe that my exposure or anyone else’s has been lethal or life-threatening,” he added. “But that could be my naivete. We were all exposed . . . for 3 1/2 months, 12 to 15 hours a day.”

Studio workers told The Times in March that they complained to Universal’s safety office, but were informed the dust was nontoxic.

Production of “seaQuest” has since moved to Florida for reasons unrelated to the asbestos at Universal City Studios.

Two of the construction companies, Clark-Porche and Prieto, declined to comment on the allegations against them. Operators of a third company, GEMI, could not be reached for comment.

The vice president of Golden State Framers, a commercial wood-framing subcontractor, said reports provided by MCA indicated that the sound stage areas were free of asbestos. Golden State Framers was cited for nine violations, with fines totaling $18,400.

“We didn’t know asbestos was there,” Gary Viano said. Viano said the major contractor, Turner Construction, “gave us the green light to go. They said the buildings were safe.

“We do not want to put our workers in any sort of danger. . . . Everyone was acting under the assumption that there was no asbestos in those areas.”

Turner Construction, one of the largest construction companies in California, was handed two $5,000 fines by Cal/OSHA for failing to make a thorough survey of the work sites for potential hazards and for failing to notify its employees of the risks involved.

“The work we were doing was emergency earthquake work,” said Robert Wund Turner’s vice president and general manager. “We understood there were no hazardous materials in these areas.

“OSHA kind of made citations against anybody and everybody. . . . We believe we complied with the regulations of Cal/OSHA.”

Times staff writer Myron Levin contributed to this story.