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Asbestos Contractor Charged in Connection with Asbestos Waste Abandoned in Camden, New Jersey

Release Date: 02/13/2007
Contact Information: Donna Heron (U.S. EPA) 215-814-5113 heron.donna@epa.gov Rich Manieri (U.S. DOJ) 215-861-8525

PHILADELPHIA -- United States Attorney Patrick L. Meehan today announced the filing of a one-count information charging Randall G. Cone with violating the Clean Air Act in connection with the transportation of asbestos waste in 2000 and the discovery in 2005 that the asbestos waste had been abandoned in a trailer in Camden, New Jersey.

According to the information, Cone was the owner and operator of R. Cone Environmental Services, Inc., an asbestos abatement firm. Cone, from Philadelphia, was hired in the spring of 2000 to remove and dispose of asbestos-containing material from a building at 800 North Broad Street in Philadelphia that was being converted into a charter school. Cone hired an individual to transport the removed asbestos material for disposal, but asbestos-containing material was eventually abandoned in a semi-trailer at a parking lot on Ferry Avenue in Camden. Cone did not complete the required asbestos waste shipment record at the time of transport, as required by Clean Air Act asbestos regulations issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A company redeveloping the Ferry Avenue property discovered the trailer and its contents in 2005, and paid approximately $18,000 to dispose of the asbestos waste and trailer.

If convicted, Cone faces a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, two years supervised release, and a special assessment of $100.

The case was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division . The case has been assigned to Special Assistant United States Attorney Martin Harrell of the EPA regional office in Philadelphia.

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