City Hopes to Negotiate EPA Fine
East Liverpool, Ohio - City officials in East Liverpool, Ohio are planning to ask the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to meet for a discussion and negotiation of a proposed $30,000 fine the EPA imposed for violation of asbestos regulations.
The incident that sparked the fine came to light in May 2006, says East Liverpool Mayor Jim Swoger. The incident involved Street Department Supervisor Earl Taylor, who hired a contractor to remove asbestos-containing pipe insulation from a city-owned building.
Around 500 linear feet of pipe insulation was removed from the building, which Taylor then buried at a clean landfill site on property that the city also owned. Several days later, then-Service Safety Director William Cowan notified the Ohio EPA about the asbestos removal and disposal due to safety concerns.
Unfortunately for the city, both the removal and the disposal of the asbestos turned out to be illegal. The asbestos removal was carried out with the knowledge or consent of the Ohio EPA.
The agency also says the removal did not adhere to the necessary safety standards. In addition the asbestos that was removed was disposed of at a landfill site that was not equipped to safely handle asbestos waste.
Asbestos removal must be carried out carefully to prevent the spread of asbestos dust, which can cause asbestos cancer and other serious diseases if inhaled. Typical asbestos removal includes wet-removal procedures to dampen materials and prevent dust dispersing.
Disposing of asbestos safely is another important issue, as asbestos at landfill sites can present a health hazard to anyone working or visiting the site. Asbestos can only be disposed of at waste sites that are equipped to handle hazardous materials.
Several after the incident was discovered, workers from Cardinal Environmental Services cleaned up the remaining asbestos at the removal site, and cleaned up the landfill.
Swoger says he doesn’t understand why the EPA has imposed the fine, because the asbestos has been cleaned up, and Earl Taylor himself had already been fined over the incident. In addition, says Swoger, city officials notified the EPA of the incident and didn’t try to cover it up.
The EPA’s proposed fine of $30,000 will be split. A proposed $24,000 will go to the EPA and $6,000 to the Ohio EPA’s Clean Diesel School Bus fund. The fund helps cover the cost of retrofitting school buses with equipment to reduce diesel emissions.
