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PA ASBESTOS REMOVAL CRIME IN PHIL. NETS 15-MONTH JAIL TERM

Release Date: 5/17/96
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PA ASBESTOS REMOVAL CRIME IN PHIL. NETS 15-MONTH JAIL TERM

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1996

ASBESTOS REMOVAL CRIME IN PHILADELPHIA NETS 15-MONTH JAIL TERM

On May 9, Michael Burrell, who was convicted by a jury for his part in an illegal asbestos removal operation, was sentenced in federal court to 15 months imprisonment. Phillip Banks, a codefendant, a Philadelphia real estate developer, was sentenced on May 8, to two and one-half years in prison and fined $30,000. On Nov. 10, 1995, after an eight-day trial, a jury convicted Burrell on one count of conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA), one felony count of failure to follow the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollution (NESHAP) work practices related to asbestos removal under the CAA, and one felony count for violating the CAA by failing to notify authorities of the asbestos removal operation. Banks was convicted by the same jury on similar charges. The offenses took place in an office building in downtown Philadelphia in 1994. Banks had agreed to remove the asbestos from the building as a condition of its sale. Banks hired Michael Burrell off the street and directed him to remove asbestos pipe insulation from the basement and a crawlspace above the 12th floor of the building, even though Burrell was not trained or certified in asbestos removal. Burrell then assembled a crew of untrained individuals who removed the asbestos, spreading asbestos fibers in the lobby, basement, and 12th floor crawlspace of the building. The asbestos was then illegally dumped in three locations in West Philadelphia, which is an economically disadvantaged area of the city. Banks had been previously fined $5,000 for improper asbestos removal by the City of Philadelphia in a civil action in 1987. One of the aggravating factors leading to a jail term for Burrell was the fact that he fled after the charges were filed against him. This case was the result of a cooperative effort by the EPA Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the FBI, and the Philadelphia City Environmental Task Force.

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