Failure to address asbestos lands demolition company in court.
An Alberta company was ordered to pay a $35,000 penalty Tuesday relating to its failure to address the hazard of asbestos exposure at an Edmonton demolition site.
Eco-Industrial Business Park Inc. was fined $5,000 after pleading guilty in provincial court to a charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
As well, the company must make a $30,000 donation to the Alberta Workers Health Centre, a charitable group that educates workers about unsafe jobsite situations.
According to agreed facts, Eco-Industrial purchased the former Celanese Edmonton plant located at 1250 Hayter Rd. on Jan. 9, 2008, and was doing demolition work on various buildings on the site as part of a redevelopment.
Within the project, the company contracted with Canadian Consolidated Salvage Ltd. to do a salvage and demolition job at a former cigarette processing plant there, beginning in the summer of 2008.
On Aug. 22, 2008, Occupational Health and Safety investigators were onsite for an unrelated work injury and became concerned about materials containing asbestos after noting loose insulation and significant amounts of white powder surrounding some dismantled piping.
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