June 14th, 2007
A leading utilities company and a number of its employees are facing harsh punishments as a result of alleged asbestos violations at a site in Lemon Grove. A federal prosecutor has accused the San Diego Gas & Electric Company of having a 'culture of corporate arrogance', claiming this is what resulted in workers ignoring safety standards in an asbestos removal project.
However, an attorney for the company states that the company and employees did nothing wrong, and that the accusations have stemmed from disagreements between experts from the company and federal officials. He stated: “Everything that San Diego Gas & Electric did in this case was aboveboard and transparent.”
Two employees and a contractor have also been named as defendants in the case, along with the utilities company itself. The employees and the contractor could be looking at fines of a quarter of a million dollars for each charge along with a five year prison sentence. The company could be facing fines of up to two and a half million dollars.
According to defense attorneys those working on the project were not aware that the asbestos posed ant danger, and stopped work when regulators stepped in. However, prosecutors are claiming that it was more to do with money, and that the company removed asbestos using cheap equipment rather than more costly, safer equipment.
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