Clapper, Patti, Schweizer and Mason

A nearly 6-year old asbestos case has come to a close.  Recently a New York judge ordered Lieze Associates, operators of the New Jersey recycling company Eagle Recycling, to pay $570,000 in fines associated with an illegal asbestos dumping scandal that left a toxic mess on a central New York farm. 

Stemming from an investigation in 2006, the fines constitute $500,000 in criminal penalties and over $70,000 to pay for the clean-up of the illegal dumpsite, located on nearly 1.3 acres of land near the Mohawk River.  Though the company was not the only entity to use the site, the court found Lieze Associates to be primarily responsible for the majority of the contaminated materials.

Lieze Associates stood accused of dumping nearly 8 thousand tons of asbestos tainted demolition debris on the site over an extended period of time.  The debris came from jobsites at which the recycling company had been paid to safely dispose of the hazardous asbestos materials.  Unfortunately, a few unscrupulous individuals decided to increase their profit margins by scarring the landscape and putting the general public at risk.

Asbestos is a highly toxic material and has been proven to cause deadly cancers including mesothelioma.  Unfortunately, the risk of developing such diseases is elevated when asbestos is left open to the elements – which is just what Lieze Associates and the other companies accused of dumping at the Frankfort farm did.  When exposed asbestos materials degrades, asbestos fibers that were once trapped within get released and become airborne. Those asbestos fibers can then travel long distances when exposed to wind or rain.  Even after having travelled miles downstream, all it would take is a few dry days to re-release those fibers into the air.  That’s where the real risk comes into play.  Airborne asbestos can easily be inhaled or ingested and once in the body those fibers cause cancer, scar lung tissue, and cause other health concerns.

And nobody knows the true danger associated with this dumping.  The illegal operations had been active for five years prior to being shutdown in 2006 and the materials were located in an active floodplain.  It may be years or even decades before the site is cleaned up and, even after that, the health risks associated with the asbestos contained therein may yet be unknown.  Because mesothelioma has such a long latency period, those affected by the disease may not notice symptoms for up to 50 years. 

In addition to asbestos violations, Eagle Recycling pled guilty to illegally dumping in wetlands and wire fraud.