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A Marion environmental services company and its owners have pleaded guilty to violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act 32 times each by conducting illegal asbestos abatement operations across Bristol County and three other counties between 2021 and 2022.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office announced the convictions of Franklin Analytical Services Inc. of Marion and owners Thomas J. McCoog Sr. and Amy Franklin McCoog on April 3. The parties were indicted by a statewide grand jury in April 2023.
Thomas McCoog and Franklin Analytical Services also pleaded guilty to a charge involving an asbestos abatement worker’s 30-foot fall at the former Revere Copper factory in New Bedford in October 2022, which caused “permanent, life-altering injuries,” Campbell said. The charge was reckless assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.
The investigation found that the defendants conducted illegal asbestos work at Dartmouth Middle School; a Dartmouth taekwondo studio; industrial sites in New Bedford, Fall River, and North Andover; waste transfer stations in Taunton and Stoughton; and numerous towns along Route 24.
The company illegally transported uncovered asbestos waste through Brockton, West Bridgewater and Bridgewater, while en route to illegally dispose of asbestos waste at a recycling center in Stoughton.
“Illegal transport and improper disposal of asbestos materials is a serious risk to public health and the environment,” said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple.
The convictions follow an investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force, an interagency unit that includes investigators and prosecutors from the attorney general’s office, and investigators and engineers from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). The investigation spanned Bristol, Plymouth, Essex, and Norfolk counties.
“Through close collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Environmental Crimes Strike Force, we remain vigilant in holding violators accountable and ensuring asbestos regulations are strictly enforced to protect workers and our communities,” Heiple said.
Justice Raffi Yessayan fined the defendants $293,750 and sentenced them to two years of probation, barring them from conducting asbestos abatement work in Massachusetts. The decision also requires them to take certain safety measures to prevent injury to workers in other forms of construction work.
“Franklin Analytical Services’ reckless disregard for its workers’ safety led to one of their employees sustaining permanent, life-altering injuries,” said Campbell.
“While no court order could ever undo the damage caused, I am grateful for the court’s decision to hold this company and its owners accountable, especially by prohibiting them from doing asbestos abatement work in the Commonwealth.”
Asbestos is a hazardous material and known human carcinogen regulated under the Clean Air Act. It is used as fire-proofing in a wide variety of building materials, and is especially prevalent in older construction.
If asbestos is improperly handled or maintained, fibers can be released into the air and inhaled into the lungs, causing scarring, malfunction and potentially life-threatening illnesses like asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma.
Once disturbed, asbestos fibers can remain airborne for up to 72 hours. Because of the serious health risks associated with asbestos, there is no safe level of exposure.
MassDEP requires builders to conduct a professional asbestos survey prior to any demolition or renovation work. Agency officials require contractors to notify them before working with any asbestos-containing material, and to carefully remove, wet, seal, and contain any asbestos-containing material so as to prevent the release of fibers into the air.
Contractors must carefully clean building sites and equipment. Once removed, they must transport and dispose of the asbestos at a special landfill.
McCoog and Franklin McCoog did not respond to requests for comment.
Email environmental reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@newbedfordlight.org.
We really appreciate listing the names of the true owners of any corporation or business that disregards and ravages rules and regulations that protect our society. Too often they hide behind corporate camouflage and exist among us oblivious to their negative impacts on their fellow citizens!
Yes, it is important for those who flagrantly endanger the public’s health to be named publicly.