May 27th, 2008

A county worker found guilty of illegally removing and dumping asbestos removed from a New York building began his prison sentence this week. The man was also made to pay a $108,000 fine.

A former county worker from New York reported to prison this week after being found guilty of illegally removing and dumping asbestos. The man ordered workers in a Cayuga County building to remove a boiler and piping from the basement and dump the debris in a local landfill. The boiler and piping contained asbestos, and the workers were not licensed to conduct abatement. The man maintains that he is not the only person that should be going to prison or paying fines, but he accepted his sentence and reported to start his 15-month sentence.

Workers that performed the removal were not trained to handle asbestos, nor were they provided protective gear against the deadly substance. Mishandling asbestos can cause the material to break into airborne fibers that can be inhaled into the body. Being exposed to airborne asbestos has been linked to respiratory diseases like mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a form of aggressive lung cancer that can take years to diagnose and is often terminal once found.