Fine for asbestos removal; State charges Peltier $50,000.

Byline: Thomas Caywood

WORCESTER - State environmental regulators have slapped a city man with a $50,412.50 fine for allegedly tearing down a building at the end of Sutton Lane without first taking steps to protect workers and the public from asbestos fibers in the siding.

"The laws are very specific that if you have asbestos-containing materials in a building, in this case in the shingles, you have to handle them with care, because asbestos is a cancer-causing material," said state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Edmund Coletta.

"The shingles are broken up by demolition or being dropped on the ground and put asbestos fibers into the ambient air around the site," Mr. Coletta said. "The workers could breathe them in, and they could travel from the site as well and affect others."

State asbestos regulations require any building materials containing the carcinogen to be wetted and carefully removed in a sealed area in which the air is filtered. Once removed, they must be sealed in bags and labeled.

The five-figure penalty, assessed in late May but just announced yesterday, was levied against Robert E. Peltier, who is trustee of T.C.B. Realty Trust No. 1. The trust owns buildings at 41 Sutton Lane, including one that was demolished in May 2006, according to the state.

Attempts to reach Mr. Peltier by telephone were unsuccessful, and the door wasn't answered at 41 Sutton Lane yesterday afternoon.

The city placed a tax lien on the property several years ago and eventually moved to take it for unpaid taxes in Land Court, but the back taxes were paid in February 2008, and the city never owned the property, according to tax records.

The DEP was alerted to the demolition by an anonymous tip, Mr. Coletta said. State inspectors dispatched to investigate the tip saw workers hired by the trust tearing down a building without taking precautions to keep the asbestos from becoming airborne, he said.

The DEP said the trust also violated state asbestos regulations by failing to notify the agency of the demolition, failing to remove asbestos materials prior to demolition, failing to seal the work area, failing to filter the air in the work area and failing to properly handle asbestos materials.

Asbestos-containing materials also were found buried on the property, the state said.

The state inspectors halted the work and ordered the trust to hire a licensed asbestos contractor to correct the problems, Mr. Coletta said.

The case hasn't been closed yet, he added, and efforts to negotiate a settlement with the trust so far have been unsuccessful.