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CHARGES OF CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS FOR NOT PROTECTING HOMELESS MEN HIRED TO REMOVE ASBESTOS
Release Date: 08/20/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2001
CHARGES OF CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS FOR NOT PROTECTING HOMELESS MEN HIRED TO REMOVE ASBESTOS
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818/hester.luke@epa.gov
David Stephen Klein of Heathrow, Fla., and Josef Gene Weiss, Jr., of Harrisonburg, Va., were indicted on August 7 for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act. The charges allege that Klein operated the Davold Real Estate Partnership and that Weiss worked for Klein and oversaw the renovation of the company’s commercial buildings around Staunton, Va. Weiss allegedly recruited homeless men from the Staunton Valley Mission for the removal of asbestos from buildings owned by Klein and the Davold Partnership. The indictment says that workers were not trained in proper asbestos removal, were not provided with proper safety equipment and were instructed to improperly dispose of the asbestos by dumping it in dumpsters located in and around Staunton. Failure to use appropriate safety equipment and properly dispose of asbestos can lead to the inhalation of asbestos fibers which is a cause of lung cancer, a lung disease known as “asbestosis” and mesothelioma which is a cancer of the chest and abdominal cavities. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Staunton, Va. Police Department with the assistance of EPA’s Region 3 and National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlottesville, Va.
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