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PA WEST VIRGINIA ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANY AND OWNER SENTENCED
Release Date: 09/11/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1998
WEST VIRGINIA ENVIRONMENTAL COMPANY AND OWNER SENTENCED
SAK Environmental Inc. of Sistersville, W.Va., and its owner Frederick Q. Blizzard of New Martinsville, W.Va., were sentenced on Sept. 1, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Clarksburg, on charges of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. SAK and Blizzard removed asbestos without following workplace standards to prevent human exposure and dumped it to save money on environmental compliance costs during various renovation and demolition projects which they conducted in West Virginia and Ohio. Inhalation of asbestos fibers in sufficient quantities can cause lung cancer, a rare cancer of the chest cavity known as “mesothelioma” and a lung disease called “asbestosis.” Blizzard was sentenced to spend a year and a day in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. SAK Environmental was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine and serve five years probation. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, EPA’s National Environmental Investigations Center, the EPA Region 3 Air and Superfund Program, the West Virginia Department of Health and the West Virginia State Police. R-118 ###
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