Asbestos News Roundup: 7.2.10

July 2nd, 2010. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of.

Asbestos Hot Spots

Quebec, CA: The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) and the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) have joined the Canadian Cancer Society’s appeal to the Quebec government urging them not to approve a $58 million loan guarantee for the Jeffrey Asbestos mine in Quebec.

If the loan is approved, it would give the mine, which is currently under bankruptcy protection, another 25 years of life. The 131-year old mine is one of a handful that remain in Canada, the fifth-largest exporter of chrysotile to developing countries, including India and Indonesia.

The mine is located in the town of Asbestos, east of the provincial capital of Quebec, Montreal. (The Montreal Gazette.com)

Asbestos Law

Chicago, IL: Three Illinois real estate developers, Michael J. Pinski, 41, of Kankakee, Duane L. O’Malley, 57, of Bourbonnais, and James A. Mikrut, 47, of Manteno, have been indicted for illegally dumping asbestos in an open field in Hopkins Park, Illinois. 

Pinski and his associates are each charged with five felony counts of violating the Clean Air Act for their alleged actions in illegally removing and disposing of asbestos from a building owned by Pinski’s company, Dearborn Management, Inc. 

The allegations state that 127 trash bags were removed from the Kankakee building in 2009, after Pinski hired O’Malley and his company, Origin Fire Protection, for the remediation work. The plastic bags reportedly contained asbestos, which O’Malley and his employees were not trained or certified to remove. Asbestos removal is strictly regulated by federal, state and local agencies and requires that people be trained and certified in the handling of this highly toxic substance. 

Subsequently, O’Malley also allegedly arranged for Mikrut to hire work men to remove asbestos from pipes inside the building. When this project was completed, Mikrut and another person allegedly then dumped the bags containing the asbestos in Hopkins Park. This resulted in soil contamination at the site. (mesotheliomaweb.com)

Kansas City, MO: Two developers in Kansas City who were to build a retail complex estimated at $85 million, are instead facing criminal charges for contaminating the building site environment through improper removal and disposal of asbestos containing materials. 

William M. Threatt Jr, 69, former president of the Community Development Corp, of Kansas City, and Anthony Crompton, 40, a real estate director at the agency, allegedly failed to properly inspect for asbestos inside structures scheduled for demolition at the  Citadel project, a 250,000 square foot site slated to be developed between April 2001 and July 2006. 

According to a report in the Kansas City Star: 

“plans for the project called for a 35-acre shopping center, including a full-service grocery, restaurants, other retailers and residential living. In 2006, The Kansas City Star found that scores of homes had been demolished and no asbestos permits had been obtained nor had the asbestos been properly contained. 

The neighborhood was littered with building materials that had been crunched and left in huge piles on sites and in nearby woods. Some houses had been demolished so long before that weeds had grown in a canopy over the debris. Bill Worley, owner of Kingston Environmental who Threatt then hired to assess the problem, said his workers found the site ‘absolutely shocking.’ ” 

Threatt and Crompton have each been charged with two violations of the Clean Air Act, and if convicted, could each face up to seven years in prison and as much as $500,000 in fines.(Kansascitystar.com)

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma

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