Crime: Fail to properly remove asbestos

Four men were arrested when they failed to remove asbestos from a condo conversion.

Instead of removing it according to proper health and safety and environmental standards, they covered it up without telling new condo owners.

The project manager pled guilty and named them as accessories.

After asbestos was found in the popcorn texture in the ceilings the men decided that complete and proper removal of the ceilings was too expensive. They covered the ceilings with drywall attached with furring strips, requiring the asbestos to be drilled into.

Workers were instructed to cover the asbestos with little or no protective equipment and without adhering to recommended procedures. The technique used to cover the ceilings actually disturbed the asbestos.

The men who were in charge of oversight are charged with conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act by failing to remove asbestos before the material would be broken up, dislodged or disturbed and without at least one on-site expert in the removal of the material. They are also accused of making false statements to authorities to cover up the scheme.