City officials in East Liverpool, Ohio, are still trying to negotiate to avoid paying the $30,000 fine the EPA wants to collect for asbestos violations.

East Liverpool City Council Members met recently to discuss the fine, and Law Director Charles Payne says the city still plans to challenge it.

Payne said, “Their demand of $30,000 is still the issue here. During our last meeting with the EPA, the city made a counter offer of $2,000 for a fine, and we basically tied that into the fine for Earl Taylor during the initial court case.”

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.

The removal and 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 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 days 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 doesn’t understand why the EPA has imposed the fine, because the asbestos has been cleaned up, and Earl Taylor had already been fined. In addition, says Swoger, city officials notified the EPA of the incident and didn’t try to cover it up.

“When it came to light, the city notified the Ohio EPA and spent $14,500 to remediate the problem,” said Law Director Charles Payne of the incident. The EPA has already rejected the city’s counter-proposal of the $2,000 fine payment.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Asbestos Litigation, Jobsite Exposure, Ohio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.