BMHA facing penalties from EPA

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - There is more fallout from asbestos removal debacle at the Kensington Heights Apartments. The Buffalo Housing Authority is now facing penalties from Environmental Protection Agency.

When a federal grand jury indicted contractors and their government overseers for illegally disposing of asbestos in the old Kensington Towers, there was some unfinished business. Why did the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority hire shoddy contractors to remove a known carcinogen? And did any of the asbestos get into the neighborhood?

The criminal charges accused contractors of simply dumping a lot of the asbestos into holes they cut in the floors of the old towers, but air and soil monitoring by the US Environmental Protection Agency determined the hazardous material stayed within the buildings.

EPA spokesman Mike Basile said, "And we were able to determine that yes, there is still asbestos in the buildings. There is a lot of asbestos that has to be removed properly."

Basile said the agency has cited the BMHA for civil violations of the Clean Air Act and allowing the illegal disposal of asbestos. The EPA cited the Housing Authority because they own the property, and there is still asbestos, a known carcinogen, inside the buildings.

"Many of the windows in the building are not secure, and the asbestos is still in the building. It does not cause any immediate health risk to anyone outside the building, but they are going to have to address this post haste," said Basile.

The EPA issued a compliance order on the Housing Authority, which could be fined up $25,000 a day until the asbestos is removed. BMHA officials declined comment, but Housing Authority attorney Adam Perry did issue a brief statement saying in part, "the Authority is working cooperatively with the EPA to resolve the identified concerns. The proposed compliance order does not impose any fines on the BMHA."

Basile said, "Typically what takes place is, as long as they do what is expected of them, the fines are lessened. In many instances, there's no fines at all."

The EPA's compliance order calls for the removal of the asbestos in a prescribed manner and tearing down the old Kensington Heights buildings. Basile said the Housing Authority has hired an environmental consultant and now they have to come up with a plan for the demolition.