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Company charged with ripping out boilers at Newbury Street building without asbestos precautions

By adamg on Wed, 07/26/2017 - 11:15am

The state has sued a Wakefield company it says improperly removed boilers at a Newbury Street building without taking proper measures to keep asbestos insulation from escaping from the site.

The state Attorney General's office filed the suit Friday against Commonwealth Tank, Inc., which is not licensed for asbestos-related work for its actions in removing two large boilers from 361 Newbury St., at Massachusetts Ave., over a five-day period in the summer of 2014:

According to the complaint, the defendants did not comply with required asbestos abatement work practices, including failing to notify MassDEP about asbestos encasing the boilers, failing to use proper air filtration units, failing to contain the asbestos dust, and failing to wet the asbestos material during the removal. This illegal asbestos removal could have potentially exposed people accessing the building, passersby in a busy urban area, and workers to asbestos fibers.

The suit also alleges the company improperly disposed of hazardous wastes at its Wakefield facility.

Neighborhoods: 
Back Bay
Topics: 
Business
Free tagging: 
Newbury Street
Lawsuits


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Comments

By anon on Wed, 07/26/2017 - 12:45pm.

People who have actually suffered from asbestos exposure - like my cousin's husband - worked around it in enclosed areas for years. The workers involved might - maybe - suffer eventually, but people walking by would never know the difference.

By perruptor on Wed, 07/26/2017 - 4:56pm.

The workers involved might - maybe - suffer eventually, but people walking by would never know the difference.

It often takes decades for asbestos-related diseases to appear. Contrary to your assertion, there is no safe level of exposure.

Although it is clear that the health risks from asbestos exposure increase with heavier exposure and longer exposure time, investigators have found asbestos-related diseases in individuals with only brief exposures. Generally, those who develop asbestos-related diseases show no signs of illness for a long time after exposure. It can take from 10 to 40 years or more for symptoms of an asbestos-related condition to appear

Your cousin's husband might well have become ill even if he'd quit that job after one day.