After pleading guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and one count of failure to notify authorities prior to removing asbestos material, Charles Powell, Jr., former St. Louis-area City Councilman and owner of Powell’s Demolition Co., was sentenced Monday in federal district court to 15 months in prison and two years of supervised release violations of the federal Clean Air Act for illegally removing asbestos during renovation of the Spivey Building in East St. Louis. During the 2002 renovation project, Powell had workers remove asbestos without protective gear and without wetting the asbestos materials (which helps prevents asbestos fibers from becoming airborne where they can be inhaled). Powell also did not identify the asbestos properly before it was hauled away from the site and did not notify the Illinois EPA that asbestos removal work was planned. When asbestos-containing materials are disturbed and asbestos fibers become airborne, exposure to them can cause mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other serious and potential fatal diseases.
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