Defunct Wisconsin Foundry Fined in Asbestos Exposure Case

A Wisconsin court ordered the corporate owner of a shuttered foundry to pay more than $500,000 in fines and medical expenses for exposing workers to toxic asbestos. Grede Holdings LLC, which was indicted last March, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Wisconsin to violating a provision of the Clean Air Act. As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Grede acknowledged supervisors at its plant in Berlin, Wisconsin, negligently ordered numerous employees in January 2012 to remove asbestos-containing insulation material from the roof of an inactive industrial oven. “The company failed to provide the workers with adequate personal protective equipment, or follow standard asbestos abatement procedures, placing the workers in imminent danger of serious bodily injury,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. The court ordered Grede to pay a maximum fine of $200,000 and agreed to provide 11 affected workers with more than $340,000 for “future medical monitoring for mesothelioma and similar lung conditions.” “It is well known that asbestos exposure is hazardous to human health,” Brad Ostendorf, assistant special agent in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) criminal enforcement program for Region 5, said in the release. “If materials containing asbestos aren’t handled safely — and legally — workers and the community can be placed at great risk. EPA and its partner agencies are committed...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: American Axle & Manufacturing asbestos abatement procedures Berlin Wisconsin Bowntown Wisconsin Brad Ostendorf Christy McNamee Clean Air Act environmental protection agency foundry asbestos exposure Grede LLC medical monitoring for mes Source Type: news