In 2005, Cleve Allen George, owner of the Virgin Islands Asbestos Removal Co., and Dylan C. Starnes, former president of the Environmental Contracting Co., were convicted on 15 counts of the illegal removal of asbestos materials in 2001 from an area of low-income housing in the Virgin Islands and for making false statements to federal agents about air monitoring at the project. The two men were hired to remove the asbestos before the building was demolished. The Justice Department has announced that George was sentenced last week to 33 months in prison and as well as 3 years supervised release. He is also being required to pay for baseline X-rays for all workers exposed to asbestos during the project. Starnes was sentenced last summer to 33 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Both men knew how to safely remove asbestos and prevent exposure to workers, but they ignored safe practices in order to increase profits. Instead, they used power wasters to blast asbestos materials from ceilings and wash it into sewers. The incidence was investigated jointly by the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and OSHA. Officials with the EPA Criminal Investigation Division said that the sentences should be a warning that violation of environmental laws will be taken seriously. The defendants’ criminal acts posed health risks to workers and could result in the future in some cases of mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by asbestos exposure.
For the full story, see the Department of Justice’s press release.
