Environmental contractor pleads guilty to falsifying asbestos documents

Calvin Burks is the owner of J & C Environmental Services in St. Louis, Missouri. He pleaded guilty to a single count of falsifying an asbestos inspection report prior to demolishing a building. Prosecutors believe, however, that Burks submitted over 100 fictitious asbestos inspection reports on the letterhead of a testing lab that he’d copied from a previous contract. He charged $150 each for as many as 108 asbestos inspections between April 2008 and May 2009, the reports for which were used by property owners and building contractors as proof that they had met the proper asbestos removal guidelines before completing renovations or demolition projects. Burks will undergo sentencing in March 2010, when he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

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