Negligent Release of Asbestos

Negligent Release of Asbestos



Aug. 2007  - A federal jury found two Oklahoma City officials
 guilty of negligently allowing the 
release of asbestos, a hazardous air pollutant. 
The evidence presented at trial showed that the City Manager of Elk City, 
Oklahoma, Guy R. Hylton, Jr. and a building superintendent, Chick Arthur 
Little, used inmates from the Elk City Work Center to remove asbestos from 
an old railroad depot in 2003. 
The inmates were not provided with protective clothing and other 
protective measures, as required by law. 
By their actions, the jury decided, city officials negligently caused the 
release of asbestos into the air and risked the health of the inmates. 
The case was jointly investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Department 
of Justice, the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, and the Oklahoma 
Department of Environmental Quality. 
"Public officials used prisoners to remove cancer-causing asbestos without 
protective equipment," said Granta Nakayama, EPA assistant administrator 
for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "All people deserve protection 
from exposure to environmental hazards, no matter their station in life." 
"These senior city officials held a sacred public trust to ensure that the 
laws established to protect the people they serve were followed," said 
John Richter, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. 
"Instead, as the jury found, they neglected their duty when they allowed 
the public to be exposed to danger by the release of hazardous asbestos 
and took advantage of inmate labor by sending them to work in the Depot 
without protection." 
The city purchased the Elk City Railroad Depot in May of 2002 for 
renovation and use by the city. The Depot was built in the early 1900s and 
contained asbestos insulation. 
Additionally, the jury found that Little lied to investigating agents when 
he falsely stated that the waste from the Depot had been properly disposed 
in a permitted landfill. 
A sentencing hearing will be held in approximately 90 days. Hylton faces 
up to one year in prison plus a fine of up to $100,000. Little faces up to 
five years in prison plus a fine of up to $250,000. 
Asbestos, which is commonly used in thermal insulation and other building 
materials, is a carcinogen and exposure can result in serious or fatal 
respiratory diseases, including lung cancer. 
When asbestos containing materials become damaged or disturbed, the fibers 
separate and may become airborne and inhaled into the lungs. The EPA 
requires keeping building materials that may contain asbestos wet in order 
to prevent the fibers from becoming airborne. 

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