2 Men Charged in Quake Surveys

Two men accused of conducting illegal asbestos inspections and surveys of earthquake-damaged buildings in the San Fernando Valley were charged Thursday with criminal offenses that could subject them to $6,000 in fines, authorities said.

Guy Michael Alati, 28, of Whittier and Douglas Carroll Waters, 44, of Westlake Village, both employees of American Technologies Inc. at the time of the surveys, were charged Wednesday with two counts each of working as an asbestos-site surveillance technician without the required certification, said Deputy City Atty. Vincent B. Sato.

A state Division of Occupational Safety and Health investigation of work done on damaged buildings in Chatsworth, Northridge and Sherman Oaks after the Jan. 17 earthquake found that the asbestos evaluations were carried out by Alati and Waters, Sato said.

Neither was qualified to determine the cost of removing the potentially cancer-causing material from the buildings, according to Sato, who heads the city attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit.

State law requires that workers responsible for such sensitive inspections and surveys be certified by the state as having the training and skills to properly handle the job, said Sato.

American Technologies Inc. based in Orange, was under contract with insurance companies to conduct asbestos evaluations of quake-damaged buildings, Sato said.

Both men are scheduled to be arraigned March 1 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.