lllegal asbestos dumping in upstate NY

NY CASE OF ILLEGAL
ASBESTOS DUMPING
NJ man pleads guilty to federal asbestos charges

September 8, 2009 – A 55-year-old New Jersey man admits that he obtained a bogus state permit and arranged for truckers to illegally dump as much as 60 tons of asbestos-contaminated materials in an upstate New York farm field.

The Associated Press reported today that the Norwood, N.J. man faces up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he's sentenced in U.S. District Court in Utica next January. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

The illegal landfill, located near the Mohawk River in Frankfort, N.Y., about 65 miles east of Syracuse, is now a federal Superfund site.

The defendant also must help pay some of the cleanup cost, which is expected to be in the millions of dollars. The investigation is still continuing, according to news reports.

The truth about asbestos

Government sources estimate that in the next decade more than 35,000 people nationwide will be diagnosed with the deadliest form of asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is most often the result of asbestos exposure on jobs – and usually contracted through employers’ blatant disregard for the health and safety of their workers.