The Montana Department of Environmental Quality had agreed to settle its case against Paul Siewert for a vastly lower sum, but he was late with payments and missed a final deadline, so the deal is off, the agency said Thursday. Attempts to reach Siewert for comment Thursday were unsuccessful and the lawyer identified as his representative, Paula Saye-Dooper, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
Last spring, DEQ won a District Court ruling that Siewert pay $105,575 in penalties and interest for violating the asbestos-control law. In Billings about four years ago, his demolition of five buildings affected more than 5,000 square feet of material containing asbestos, DEQ said.
After evaluating Siewert's assets, DEQ agreed to a smaller settlement.
Although not prompt with the money, Siewert did pay $6,500, the agency said. He did not come through with the additional $500 necessary to end the matter, and enforcement specialist Chad Anderson said Thursday that Siewert did not respond to DEQ's communication about the unpaid sum.
With interest, the penalty has risen to $109,312.
Other recent DEQ asbestos cases have included payment of a $9,450 penalty by a company that did not have an accredited inspector perform a thorough asbestos evaluation before some Miles City apartments were demolished. In Great Falls, work at a vacant furniture store led to a $22,125 penalty after improper removal of about 30,000 square feet of floor tile, carpet and adhesive containing asbestos.
DEQ asbestos specialist Pierre Amicucci estimates compliance with asbestos-control requirements in Montana demolition and renovation projects is less than 10 percent.
The state agency lacks the staff for comprehensive enforcement, Amicucci said. The trigger for investigations sometimes comes when the unsuccessful bidder for a project checks on work by the winning bidder, observes violations and contacts DEQ, he said.
"They want to level the playing field," said Amicucci, noting that in some cases a bidder may have lost a contract by submitting a higher price that reflected the cost of asbestos compliance.
It is common for violators to claim they were unaware of the regulations, Amicucci said.
"It's still hard to imagine, with all the publicity Libby got, that there's still ignorance out there," he said. Human exposure to asbestos from a vermiculite mine has been blamed for widespread sickness, and in some cases death, in Libby.
"The regulations aren't new," Amicucci said. "They've been in place since 1990. We have contractors who are simply ignoring them."
Over the years, the Montana Contractors' Association has collaborated with DEQ in providing programs to inform contractors about asbestos removal and abatement, said Cary Hegreberg, executive director of the association. It is prepared to work with DEQ in doing more, he said.
The businesses DEQ cited for the projects in Billings, Miles City and Great Falls are not among the association's 200 or so members, said Hegreberg, adding that "I like to think our members are a little more attuned to regulatory compliance and education. There is a sector of the industry that is not as well informed as they need to be."
On the Net: Department of Environmental Quality: http://www.deq.mt.gov; Montana Contractors' Association: http://www.mtagc.org
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