Otsego, Michigan – The Rock-Tenn Paper Mill site’s previous owner has been indicted in a 5-count arraignment, charging him for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act. The indictment was filed on Friday in the United States District Court, Grand Rapids. According to the indictment, Michael Davis failed to obtain a systematic asbestos inspection, failed to use a trained representative for managing asbestos dealings on-site, failed to wet materials containing asbestos, failed to label waste containing asbestos, and failed to dispose of asbestos-containing debris properly. Davis purchased the former mill site on Helen Ave in year 2006. However, the property had to enter foreclosure in 2011 April following the company of Davis – Cogswell Property – failed to pay outstanding property taxes. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finished the emergency cleanup of eighteen tons of dangerous debris from the mill site in March. According to the twelve-page indictment, the Rock-Tenn site was purchased by Davis in year 2006. He purchased it with an intention to salvage metal from boilers, pipes and some other components that were there inside a powerhouse on that property, the indictment says. Federal authorities say Davis knew that there were large amounts of insulation containing asbestos at the mill, especially on the pipes inside the old powerhouse. Investigators say some of the insulations on the pipes contained labels warning “Dangerous Substance Asbestos,” where as, some other pipes indicated “Asbestos Free”. “Rather than paying for a professional and trained specialist in asbestos abatement, Davis invented a scheme for saving money and time by hiring unskilled labors for assisting him in cleaning up the insulation containing asbestos from certain components and pipes inside the powerhouse. Davis failed to follow the standards for safely dealing with asbestos as mandated by federal regulations,” the indictment alleges. Asbestos was an extensively used substance before the 1980s because of many of its amazing properties. Despite all its useful features such as strength, resistance to heat, fire and electricity, flexibility, durability, low cost etc., asbestos is a very dangerous material. Exposure to disturbed or broken asbestos can cause terminal diseases including lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a rare, but incurable, form of cancer caused by the inhalation of microscopic asbestos fibers. Asbestos-related diseases usually take a few decades to start showing their initial symptoms. However, once appeared, asbestos-linked diseases such as mesothelioma generally take the lives of its victims within 1 year.
