St. Louis, MO Man Given Prison Sentence for Role in Submitting False Asbestos Inspection Reports

As seen in this St. Louis, Missouri case, failure to follow federal and state asbestos regulations can mean significant monetary fines and possible prison sentences for exposing the public to asbestos, a cancer-causing mineral known to cause a number of serious and potentially life-threatening diseases.

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestos lung cancer or asbestosis, our asbestos attorneys can provide important information about your legal rights to seek compensation for your illness.

On March 9, 2010, the United States Attorney’s Office and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that the owner of a St. Louis, MO-based environmental services company had been sentenced to one year in prison for creating and filing fictitious asbestos inspection reports for buildings scheduled for renovation or demolition.

According to the investigation, between the period of April 2008 and May 2009, the man’s company had been hired to conduct asbestos inspections at over 100 properties in the St. Louis area that had been scheduled for demolition. The man’s company charged clients $150 for each report fraudulently compiled for these properties.

Fraudulent NESHAP Reports Prepared and Filed
Before renovations or demolition can take place at buildings that may contain asbestos, testing and analysis of these properties are required to be conducted under National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations.

The DOJ investigators discovered that although the company filed NESHAP reports for 108 properties, the reports had been fraudulently created. Each of these reports included forged asbestos analysis reports created by the company owner on photocopied letterhead of an area asbestos testing company.

The asbestos testing company subsequently confirmed they had not been hired to perform the asbestos testing and did not prepare the reports that had been submitted for the investigated properties.

Health Risks to Area Residents
The properties that were demolished based on forged asbestos analysis testing may have led to asbestos fibers being released into the environment, causing all those who lived or worked in the area where these demolition projects took place to have been exposed to dangerous asbestos-contaminated dusts.

Because the time between exposure to asbestos and when symptoms of an asbestos-related disease are first diagnosed can be 30-40 or more years long (known as latency periods), these individuals face decades of uncertainty about their health.

How Weitz & Luxenberg Can Help
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease, we may be able to help you to seek justice for your illness and file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Please complete the form on this page for a free and confidential review of your potential asbestos lawsuit or request a free copy of our asbestos sourcebook. A Weitz & Luxenberg representative will contact you as soon as possible.