By Matt Ryan, Free Press Staff Writer • August 13, 2009

ESSEX JUNCTION — Two Vermont companies could face a combined total of nearly $30,000 in fines for allegedly demolishing buildings in Essex Junction last year without properly checking for asbestos or notifying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA accuses the JIDDU/SIDDU Trust of Colchester and CRC Excavating, LLC of Middlesex of illegally razing buildings on two residential lots on 231 and 235 Pearl Street to make way for a three-story, 35-unit apartment building on the combined lot in March 2008. The companies failed to thoroughly inspect the 75,106 pounds of debris for asbestos when it was removed from the site and never informed the EPA of its intent, the agency alleges.

“If there was some asbestos, it could have affected the workers and the people down the street,” said David Peterson, senior enforcement counsel for the EPA.

Breathing in asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the chest and the abdominal cavity, according to the agency.

No traces of asbestos have been found on the site, Peterson said. JIDDU/SIDDU tested “limited” debris remaining after the demolition, according to the EPA. The apartment building has since been developed.

“We’re not alleging there’s still asbestos on the site,” Peterson said.

The companies together might have to pay $29,308 for violating the federal Clean Air Act and the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Asbestos.

The EPA learned of the alleged violation from the Vermont Health Department, Peterson said.

The two companies can plead their case through negotiations and an administrative hearing.

CRC Excavating, and the attorney representing JIDDU/SIDDU did not return calls seeking comment.
Source: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com