Property owners fined for improper asbestos removal.

Byline: Matthew Bruun

FITCHBURG - Two men were fined more than $3,800 apiece yesterday after pleading no contest to charges they illegally removed asbestos from the old Fitchburg Theatre building on Main Street.

Francis D. Tramontozzi, 73, of 50 Campus Lane, Tewksbury, and his son, Thomas M. Tramontozzi, 47, of 65 Mechanic St., Fitchburg, were charged with failing to notify the state Department of Environmental Protection of asbestos removal and failing to control asbestos emissions. Their pleas were entered yesterday, the day a jury trial on the charges was slated to begin in Fitchburg District Court.

The case began on May 11, 2006, when Stephen D. Curry, then an inspector with the Board of Health and now the department's director, received an anonymous complaint indicating a potential asbestos hazard at the old theater building at 689-705 Main St.

The theater itself has been vacant for many years, but pieces of the property fronting Main Street have been rented to various businesses and remain in operation.

"After receiving the complaint, Mr. Curry inspected the property and observed that the asbestos insulation on heat pipes located in the back exterior of the building was in poor condition and in need of removal or repair," according to a summary of the case filed in court last November by Assistant Attorney General Wendoly Ortiz Langlois. "The asbestos insulated piping was in an area accessible to the public."

The area was used for parking for customers of the nearby City Hall Cafe and was near a local bank drive-through lane, the summary reads. The location is also near Fitchburg District Court, the Fitchburg Senior Center and apartments. A Board of Health violation was issued to Francis D. Tramontozzi and John N. Tramontozzi, identified as the trustees of the property, on May 12, 2006.

Mr. Curry spoke to Francis D. Tramontozzi on May 17, 2006, and they discussed the seriousness of the violation, the condition of the asbestos and the need for its repair, according to the complaint. Mr. Curry provided four contacts for asbestos abatement services.

"The conversation ended with Curry telling Tramontozzi that if a significant amount of time passed and there was no communication between them, Curry would assume Tramontozzi was avoiding abating the asbestos," the complaint says.

Mr. Curry returned to the site about four months later and found the asbestos insulation remained in poor condition and no abatement had been undertaken, according to the complaint. He filed a petition on Sept. 11, 2006, requesting a hearing on the matter at Housing Court. Francis D. Tramontozzi signed for receipt of the court order on Sept. 12, 2006, and two days later Mr. Curry received a phone call saying his nephew had encapsulated the pipes and the job was complete.

A year later, at a probable cause hearing on the case, Mr. Tramontozzi said Mr. Curry had not heard him correctly, and that it was his son - Thomas M. Tramontozzi - and not his nephew who had encapsulated the pipes, according to the attorney general's office.

After getting the call about the job being complete, Mr. Curry inspected the site again "and found many broken pieces of dry friable asbestos debris and powder lying uncontained in the parking lot and in vegetation growing underneath the pipes," the complaint says.

Mr. Curry called the DEP, and a state inspector and licensed asbestos abater returned to the site on Sept. 15, 2006.

"At the inspection, (the DEP inspector) observed that the exterior heat pipes were recently covered with duct tape and then spray-painted black," the complaint says. "He observed where 20-25 linear feet of asbestos insulation was removed from the exterior heat pipes. He also observed many pieces of dry friable asbestos lying uncontained on the asphalt pavement under the pipes and in the nearby vegetation."

The licensed asbestos contractor cleaned up the site, the complaint says, with about 160 linear feet of asbestos insulation on the exterior pipes being abated. Also, 800 square feet of property required decontamination.

The abatement cost $3,000 and was paid for with a check from the 689-717 Main Street Realty Trust, signed by John Tramontozzi.

In court yesterday, the defendants entered pleas of "nolo contendere," which is not a guilty plea but a statement that a defendant is ready to accept conviction and sentence rather than go to trial. The Latin phrase translates as "I will not contest it."

For failing to notify the DEP of asbestos removal, Judge Paul L. McGill fined each defendant $1,000 with a $250 surfine and $50 victim-witness fee. For failing to control asbestos emissions, each man was assessed a $2,000 fine with a $500 surfine and $50 victim-witness fee.

Court records indicate both men paid the fines yesterday.

The case was investigated by the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force, an interagency unit that includes prosecutors from the attorney general's office, environmental police officers assigned to the attorney general's office, and investigators and engineers from the DEP.

The strike force, overseen by Ms. Coakley, DEP Commissioner Laurie Burt and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian A. Bowles, investigates and prosecutes crimes that harm the state's water or air and that pose a significant threat to human health.