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EPA fines contractor, Arizona Deptartment of Transportation $36,410 over asbestos violations

Release Date: 10/31/2007
Contact Information: Marc Mowrey, (415) 972-3324

SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that BCS Enterprises, a Gilbert, Ariz. demolition contractor, and the Arizona Department of Transportation will pay a $36,410 penalty to resolve alleged violations of Clean Air Act asbestos removal and other requirements.

"If not handled properly, asbestos is a hazard to demolition workers and to the surrounding communities,” said Deborah Jordan, the EPA’s Air Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. “This is the EPA’s fourth asbestos enforcement action against the Arizona Department of Transportation in the past five years. We expect them to address this potentially hazardous pattern of non-compliance.”

According to the EPA, ADOT hired BCS Enterprises in March 2006 to demolish a structure in Florence Junction, Pinal County, Ariz. that included approximately 2,800 square feet of transite asbestos-containing roofing shingles.

During the April 2006 demolition of the property, BCS Enterprises and ADOT allegedly violated federal law by:
· failing to remove the asbestos shingles before demolition;
· failing to maintain and provide proper waste shipment records; and
· failing to properly notify the EPA and the local air pollution control agency of the demolition and asbestos removal operations.

In 2003, ADOT paid approximately $116,000 in penalties, and implemented a compliance program to settle a judicial case against itself and four other defendants involving notification and inspection violations at four demolition sites in Arizona.

In 2005, ADOT settled two administrative enforcement actions for notification violations involving demolitions of an abandoned fuel island in Show Low, Ariz. and a bridge at Interstate 10 and Loop 202 interchange south of Chandler, Ariz. To settle these two administrative actions, ADOT paid a penalty of approximately $10,000 and funded over 30 training seminars at a cost of approximately $45,000.

Asbestos fibers released to the air are considered a hazardous air pollutant by the EPA. Potential health effects from the inhalation of asbestos fibers include lung disease and cancer. For more information on asbestos removal, visit: https://www.epa.gov/iaq/asbestos.html

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