West Virginia Company Fined $500,000 and Given Two Years of Probation Over Illegal Asbestos Work
A West Virginia company faces a $500,000 criminal fine and two years of probation in Michigan federal court for illegally demolishing a building known to contain asbestos. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards. The violations occurred at a former automotive manufacturing site in Saginaw, Michigan. The building, the Power House, was a large industrial structure on the former Saginaw Transmission Plant (GM Saginaw Transmission Division) built in 1919 to 1920, which later became Delphi Automotive in 1999 and then TRW Automotive in 2007 until its closure in 2014. Companies that demolish structures containing asbestos must follow strict federal work practice standards before the process starts. Applied Partners did not follow those standards and the workers on site had no training or protection when the demolition began. According to court documents, what happened was not an oversite. Applied Partners had documented proof of asbestos in the building years before the demolition and still ordered workers to tear it down without proper remediation, training, or safety measures.
Applied Partners acquired the former TRW Integrated Chassis Systems site in Saginaw in 2018 for $3.35 million, with plans to demolish and scrap its structures before reselling the property. A 2006 survey documented asbestos throughout the site’s Power House structure years before Applied Partners bought the property. Despite that documentation, the company only remediated the first floor of the Power House before directing another company to start demolition in fall 2019. Court documents confirm that Applied Partners was aware that regulated asbestos-containing material remained in the structure when it gave the order to proceed. No workers on site received training in proper asbestos handling or regulations. None of the asbestos-containing material received proper treatment before demolition began. Between September 19 and October 24, 2019, workers used heavy machinery to break apart brick walls and pull down at least one large facility component covered in asbestos-containing material from the upper floors of the Power House. Demolition stopped only after regulators performed sampling and informed Applied Partners it needed to remediate the remaining material before work could continue. The EPA’s Criminal Investigative Division investigated the case, with assistance from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Divisions Environmental Investigation Section.
“Applied Partners knowingly disregarded asbestos work practice standards designed to protect human health,” said someone from the justice department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division. “Today’s sentence demonstrates that public health is among our highest priorities, and we will prosecute those who violate environmental laws.” EPA assistant administrator Jeffrey A. Hall of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance says, “This prosecution and sentencing shows that companies that profit off of exposing American workers or communities to hazardous air pollutants will be held accountable.” His office stressed that the asbestos regulations Applied Partners violated exist specifically to protect Americans from asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma. Federal prosecutors had enough evidence to secure a guilty plea. Applied Partners did not contest the charges. The company admitted it knew asbestos remained in the Power House and ordered demolition anyway, which is why the case ended with a criminal sentence rather than a civil settlement.
Asbestos exposure does not cause immediate symptoms, but the long-term consequences can be devastating. When workers use heavy machinery to break apart asbestos-containing materials without proper precautions, microscopic fibers contaminate the air, and anyone nearby can inhale or ingest them. Those toxic fibers can lodge in tissue and cause serious damage over time. Inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause serious illnesses including mesothelioma and lung cancer. An asbestos-related disease can take many years to develop after exposure. Workers present during the 2019 demolition may not know for decades whether they developed a serious illness. That long latency period makes early awareness and medical monitoring especially important for anyone who worked at or near the site. A doctor can document exposure history, which is important if a diagnosis comes years later. People diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease should contact a legal representative to understand their legal options.
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