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January 06, 2014
Monticello, New York - Sam’s Property Management, a demolition contract company, is suing the village of Monticello because the company did not receive payment for demolishing the village’s old courthouse. This is another thorn in the side of Monticello’s mayor, Gordon Jenkins, who decided to go ahead with the demolition despite the fact that the structure contained asbestos. According to Sam Kearney, the owner of Sam’s Property Management, Jenkins told him that the building was free of asbestos. However, village trustee Carmen Rue has stated that Monticello officials had previously known about the existence of asbestos at the site, and the village board never approved the contract.
The fiasco began on October 3, when Kearney and five of his employees were arrested by Department of Environmental Conservation police for illegally dumping debris from the demolished building. Following the arrests, the Department of Labor stopped removal of the hazardous debris. Equipment used by Kearney’s company sat at the site during the Department of Labor’s halt, racking up rental costs. Kearney’s lawsuit seeks $196,333 recompense, plus interest.
Asbestos is the primary cause of the deadly disease mesothelioma. Many buildings erected throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries contain asbestos, and there are numerous regulations about the safe disposal of the material during demolition or renovation. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for people to unlawfully remove and dispose of asbestos in an attempt to save money.
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