DEQ fines Rose City Contracting $4,800 for asbestos violations in NE Portland
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined Rose City Contracting, Inc. $4,800 for failing to install the required viewing window for an asbestos abatement project at a commercial building at
4265 NE Halsey Street in Portland.
DEQ issued this penalty because this asbestos abatement work practice requirement is essential to DEQ's ability to oversee asbestos abatement projects. Rose City Contracting has repeatedly violated this requirement.
Asbestos fibers are a respiratory hazard proven to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis. Asbestos is a danger to public health and a hazardous air contaminant for which there is no known safe level of exposure. To protect the public from asbestos exposure, DEQ requires training and licensing for those who handle asbestos-containing material. The failure to employ the required protective asbestos abatement work practices inhibits DEQ's ability to oversee asbestos abatement projects.
In determining the penalty amount, DEQ considered Rose City Contracting’s efforts to minimize the impacts of the violation by correcting the work practice violation during DEQ's inspection of the project.
View the enforcement letter: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/nr/090916rosecity.pdf
Rose City Contracting has until Sept. 17 to appeal the penalty.
Contact
Kieran O’Donnell, Environmental Law Specialist, Portland, 503-229-5012
odonnel.keiran@deq.state.or.us
Zebuliah Bates, Asbestos Program, Portland, 503-229-5364, bates.zabuliah@deq.state.or.us