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WASHINGTON ASBESTOS REMOVAL SUPERVISOR SENTENCED TO PRISON
Release Date: 03/09/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000
WASHINGTON ASBESTOS REMOVAL
SUPERVISOR SENTENCED TO PRISON
SUPERVISOR SENTENCED TO PRISON
Thomas Pearson, a former supervisor at a renovation and demolition project at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Whidbey Island, Washington was sentenced to serve 10 months in federal prison, two months home detention and three years probation on March 6 in U.S. District Court in Seattle. In June and July 1996, the defendant violated the Clean Air Act when he directed workers to remove asbestos-containing material from pipes, tanks and boilers at the Air Station’s central heating plant without first wetting the asbestos to prevent the airborne release of asbestos fibers. Approximately 700 bags of dry asbestos-containing material were found at the project site. Inhalation of airborne asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer, a lung disease known as “asbestosis” and mesothelioma, which is a cancer of the chest and abdominal cavities. The investigation was conducted by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
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