Lee County, Florida – Posen Construction, a Florida contractor that was recently fined after admitting to asbestos-related violations, is being kept under close scrutiny as the company completes its latest project.

Over the past couple of years, Posen Construction has gained a number of large contracts, and a reputation for getting its work completed quickly.

However, Posen Construction also has a reputation of running afoul of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and other environmental agencies.

The asbestos incident occurred at a Three Oaks construction site in December 2007. Employees of Posen Construction claimed they had been ordered to cut up and crush pipes that contained asbestos, and also that the waste was disposed of at sites that were not equipped to safely deal with asbestos waste. Some employees complained to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

State and County officials began to investigate when employees provided sworn statements saying they had been ordered to crush the asbestos-containing pipes, load the crushed asbestos into trucks, and then dump the waste at sites located north of Alico, including at a recently-constructed retention lake.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection inspectors found asbestos fragments on the banks of a nearby retention lake, as well as buried asbestos pipe sections. A total of twenty bags of fragments, as well as two five-foot sections of pipe, were eventually recovered.

As a result the company was fined $6,500—and the job itself was worth $27.5 million. According to state officials, $6,500 was the maximum fine that could be imposed in this case. Posen Construction also paid $12,000 to clean up the waste, and $6,000 on site assessments.

In addition to the DEP fine of $6,500 the company has also been cited by the county for illegally handling de-watering, and for discharging dirty water into two Lee County rivers. The company received a warning and two citations, but was fined only $4,000.

Another citation early in April came after the Posen Company failed to maintain ‘best management practices’ by allowing contaminated water to leach from a construction site into downstream waterways.

County Commission Chairman Ray Judah says that the small size of the fines means the state has an enforcement problem, saying “The state formula to hold polluters responsible is woefully inadequate.”

Judah also says that Posen Construction will be kept under close scrutiny as its completes its current county project, and that the company won’t win any more county contracts if it violates any environmental regulations.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under Florida. 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.