After pleading guilty in October, Longwell Company owner Stanley Xu was sentenced on March 13 to fifteen months in prison for violating the Clean Air Act. He also received 90 days of home confinement and was ordered to make a $75,000 payment to the National Environmental Education Foundation as community service. Longwell Company was fined $159,850 and placed on five years’ probation to ensure compliance with all environmental regulations.
The violation occurred when Xu improperly dealt with the aftermath of a ruptured pipe at one of his apartment complexes in December, 2009. Although he was aware that the rupture had caused an asbestos-containing material to rain down into the apartments from the ceiling, Xu hired workers who were untrained and uncertified for asbestos abatement.
“Asbestos has killed scores of people in our country, and the rules are meant to protect against its dangers,” said U. S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “Mr. Xu and his company were well aware of the regulations surrounding cleanup and disposal of asbestos contamination, and chose instead to put his tenants and workers at risk.”
Xu and Longwell Company have a history of similar violations, such as a 2006 paint contamination complaint by the Environmental Protection Agency, and a 2007 citation by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries for failing to conduct an asbestos survey prior to construction. In 2010, four of Longwell Company’s seven complexes were involved in asbestos-removal violations. “We’re not experts at this,” Xu has said. “We’re business people.”
The fact that they are not experts is precisely the reason why a trained professional should have been hired. Strict regulations are in place to promote safe handling and disposal of asbestos, which has been banned since the 1970s. When inhaled, the hazardous material can cause a variety of respiratory health problems, including mesothelioma.