Contractor Fined $74K Over Asbestos-Tainted Debris at Oregon Site

Article

A company has been fined over $74,000 for improperly sending asbestos-tainted debris to a landfill in Southern Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality described the violations as “major magnitude violations,” but said the problems have since been “properly abated and removed,” The Mail Tribune reported.

The state fined BACH Land Development for improperly clearing a dozen manufactured home sites containing asbestos after last year’s fires between late November and early December and “conducting an unlicensed asbestos abatement project” at Medford Estates.

The company has until April 4 to contest the fine.

BACH Land Development “is not, and has never been licensed by DEQ as an asbestos abatement contractor,” according to findings of fact surrounding the improper cleanups before staff at the Dry Creek Landfill refused the company’s loads Dec. 7 because of improper documentation that failed to state whether it contained asbestos.

The refusal by the landfill prompted DEQ inspections in December at Medford Estates.

By Dec. 17, the contractor had properly sealed all involved piles of debris containing asbestos, and by late January had hired DEQ licensed subcontractor Asbestos Control Group to mark and properly dispose of all involved debris, according to DEQ.

BACH Land Development has had no prior violations, according to DEQ.