BOSTON (Legal Newsline) — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced on March 17 that a group of defendants involved in a sewer pipe replacement project in Framingham will pay a total of $385,000 after allegedly allowing asbestos-containing soil and waste to be illegally disposed of behind a Milford home.
“Asbestos can pose serious health risks if it is not handled and disposed of properly,” Healey said. “We expect those trusted with the removal and disposal of this hazardous substance to take the proper precautions required by state laws in order to keep workers, residents and the public safe from the risks of asbestos exposure.”
The defendants include companies S.B. General Contracting Inc., JM Construction Co. Inc., Ed Brown & Son Inc., R. Oliveira Trucking Inc., the Town of Framingham and William F. Rowe III, owner of the disposal site behind the Milford home.
The contractors allegedly failed to properly inspect, secure and dispose of asbestos-containing waste. All of the defendants purportedly failed to adequately monitor the site to prevent violations.
“Asbestos is a known carcinogen and MassDEP regulations require specific handling, packaging, storage and disposal procedures to protect workers and the general public from exposure,” Martin Suuberg, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, said. “As this case demonstrates, failure to follow the prescribed work practices and to ensure that those work practices are followed will result in significant penalties, as well as escalated cleanup, decontamination and monitoring costs.”