Real Estate Firm Guilty of Years of Illegal Asbestos Removal

June 14, 2006 - A Syracuse, New York real estate management firm pleaded guilty to felony charges related to 15 years of illegal asbestos removal from nearly 100 buildings owned or managed by the company.

Longley-Jones Management Company, Inc., in accordance with a plea agreement, admitted to “conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act and to commit mail fraud”, and also admitted to committing seven Clean Air Act crimes. 

The plea agreement stated that the company also must submit an environmental plan that must be approved by the court and government officials.  Longley-Jones was also ordered to pay a $1 million fine.

The mail fraud plea pertains to agreements the real estate firm had with hauling contractors, according to an Associated Press article which appeared in several Northern New York newspapers.  These contractors unknowingly disposed of asbestos that was discarded along with household trash and was in no way identified as containing asbestos.

This is a very significant plea," said Glenn T. Suddaby, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York. "The public should be aware. It's time for people to wake up. There's a very significant health issue involved here. It puts people's lives in danger, and unfortunately it's not an isolated case."

Longley-Jones admitted that, between the years of 1990 and 2005, it failed to notify appropriate agencies in regards to asbestos removal work in its buildings.  Workers who removed the cancer-causing material did not wear proper protective gear and left trails of asbestos in their tracks. 

The company has already paid about $3 million to clean up the sites in question.