JP Contractor Faces Fine for Asbestos Violations in Worcester

During a state inspection in 2012, employees of a Jamaica Plain contractor were observed mishandling the removal of asbestos-containing shingles from a residence in Worcester. The contractor now faces a financial penalty.

EnviroGreen, LLC, located at 81 Chestnut Ave., faces a penalty of $18,312.50 for failing to follow Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection asbestos removal procedures, according to a department press statement Thursday. Due to a settlement, EnviroGreen must pay $10,000 of the penalty; the rest has been suspended pending no new violations in a one-year period.

During an inspection in September 2012, officials observed EnviroGreen personnel removing shingles from a home on Reeves Street in Worcester “without any attempt to minimize breakage or to carefully lower them to the ground,” according to the statement.

Department officials also observed numerous dry, shattered asbestos-containing shingles un-contained on the ground, the statement says.

“MassDEP regulations require that contractors remove asbestos-containing siding shingles wet, take adequate precautions to minimize breakage, carefully lower them to the ground and seal the asbestos waste while wet into leak-tight containers that have appropriate asbestos warning labels affixed to them,” the statement says.

EnviroGreen has been a Better Business Bureau accredited business since May 2011.