Fortune Management to pay $7,500 fine

By Avon Waters, Anderson Herald-Bulletin

State environmental officials fined Fortune Management of Anderson $7,500 for Fortune's error early last year that exposed asbestos while renovating a local property.

The firm was cited by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for removing asbestos improperly from a 1219 Meridian St. property. The notice of violation cited several items related to the removal.

Fortune agreed to a settlement in March that allows the firm to pay $1,500 by April 17 and the remaining balance in five monthly installments. Payment goes to the asbestos trust fund.

The asbestos was discovered removed and in a trash container after an April 10, 2002, inspection by IDEM. After the material was discovered to be asbestos, it was removed and disposed of properly. At the time it was not known that the building contained asbestos, said Tony Johnson, director of development for Fortune Management.

"Normally what you find in old buildings is asbestos in floor tiles, but this was insulation or wall filler," Johnson said. "It was an isolated incident. We did it and the guys didn't know they had done it. Unless you tested it, you didn't know it was asbestos. It looked like any other kind of insulation when the guys pulled it out of the walls."

Civil penalties could have been assessed by IDEM for as much as $25,000 per day for the violation. Fortune is pleased that IDEM saw that this was an isolated incident, Johnson said.

This fine is typical for those associated with this kind of asbestos violation, said Keri McGrath, spokeswoman for IDEM.

"We look at a lot of different factors when assessing fines," she said. "But this one was less because of several factors. One key was that when they were notified of the violation, they stopped work."

Also after notification, Fortune worked to get back to compliance and that is something that carries a lot of weight when the civil fines are determined, she added. Within a day or two, they were in compliance.

Another factor involved in the determination was the amount of material found, McGrath said. A total of three cubic feet of asbestos was found, which isn't a huge amount.

The building had been surveyed by an independent contractor for asbestos, Johnson said. None was found until demolition exposed the material.

"It's very common to find asbestos in buildings built up all the way up into the 1980s. It was contained in everything. People thought it was a miracle material." Johnson said. "It was outlawed in the 1970s, but still was in use in many products like tile, brake pads and heat resistive products. Because of its heat resistant quality, it made it ideal for anything that might need fireproofed or used in high heat situations."

It's heat resistive qualities are what made it ideal to be a wall insulation, Johnson said. It could be put in a wall and acted like a fire barrier between rooms or buildings.

There have been no other such discoveries during more renovations in downtown Anderson, Johnson said. Inspections or surveys of all buildings were completed before demolition and renovation began to determine if asbestos was present. Suspect materials were removed.

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