R.I. contractor fined for asbestos violations

BOSTON – The Mass. Department of Environmental Protection has fined Cumberland-based contractor J.H. Lynch & Sons Inc. for failing to handle asbestos properly at a Worcester, Mass., construction site.
DEP fined J.H. Lynch and Costello Dismantling Company Inc. of Middleboro, Mass., a combined $45,412.50 for violations dating to 2008. At the time, the contractors were involved with the development Worcester Crossing, which now hosts a Wal-Mart and Olive Garden restaurant.
DEP said an inspection in November 2008 of the work found “significant quantities of concrete duct bank containing asbestos transite pipe that had been excavated, broken up and stockpiled in an uncontained manner at the site.” The agency charged that the contractors failed to property handle the material and did not notify the department of a project involving asbestos-containing materials, as required.
The companies has since agreed to comply with all rules in the future and pay the penalty.
“Contractors doing demolition and construction site work in Massachusetts must be fully aware of their responsibilities under the regulations to identify asbestos-containing materials which they encounter in the course of their work and then take appropriate response actions,” said Martin Suuberg, director of DEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “Failing to identify asbestos materials and immediately take measures to have them removed, handled, packaged and stored in accordance with the regulations is an extremely serious oversight that potentially exposes workers and the general public to a known carcinogen. Noncompliance inevitably results in significant penalty exposure, as well as escalated cleanup, decontamination, disposal and monitoring costs.”