New
York Business Owner & Air Monitor Places Residents & Workers
at Risk of Mesothelioma Lung Cancer
(September 29th, 2008)
 SYRACUSE,
N.Y. - Mark Desnoyers, owner of Adirondack Environmental Associates
based in New York city was recently convicted of of falsifying test
results for asbestos removal companies in a Utica Federal court.
Working as an air monitor, Desnoyers's job was to assemble proper
documentation of safe home asbestos abatement procedures & removal
from public/commercial and residential buildings. In the court trial,
it was found that Desnoyers secretly worked with asbestos abatement
companies to falsify the results of his research and help asbestos
abatement companies ignore environmental laws that were regulated
in order to protect the general public, workers & students in
public schools from being exposed to Asbestos.
Desnoyer's conspiracy with asbestos abatement companies allowed
general contractors to finish work for clients such as public buildings,
commercial buildings & residential homes with asbestos-contaminated
homes that were not clean and safe, but in his report, Desnoyers
should the buildings as clean and safe. These unclean and asbestos-contaminated
buildings put residents & workers at great risk of developing
asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis, mesothelioma lung
cancer, etc. Desnoyers has been prosecuted for the following violations:
i) Violation of the Federal Clean Air Act
ii) Mail fraud
iii) Violation of the terms of the Clean Air Act
iv) Making false statements to the special agents of the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
Two other men pleaded guilty to the charges, John Wood, CEO of
J&W Construction and Curtis Collins, CEO of Adirondack Asbestos
admitted they violated terms of the Clean Air Act, and the above
charges. Wood acknowledged his asbestos removal practices were illegal
and he used false air test reports to insure homeowners & commercial
building landlords that their building were free from asbestos contamination
and workers were safe. Thus, Desnoyers faces a fine of upto $1.25
million with a possible 25 years of imprisonment. Wood faces imprisonment
time of up to 5 years and a fine of $250,000. Anyone who has had
their home or commercial building checked for asbestos abatement
services by any of the above mentioned parties is encouraged to
have the process redone, as their buildings may not be totally safe.
It is especially important to remove all aging asbestos products
from the home, as they cause the most amount of exposure.
What is
Asbestos?
Asbestos by definition is the name of several minerals that naturally
occur in the environment as bundles of fibers and are separated
into thin durable threads. Asbestos fibers are resistant to chemicals,
fire & heat and cannot conduct electricity. This is why they
are used in many different industries. Asbestos is divided into
2 subgroups; 1) chrysotile belongs to the serpentine minerals group
and has curly fibers and 2) amphibole straight, needle-like fibers.
More on these subgroups of asbestos is discussed below. Asbestos
fibers are known to be a threat to humans and their lungs because
once asbestos fibers are inhaled into the lungs, they form solid
malignant tumors that can lead to peritoneal, pleural or pericardial
mesothelioma. Other diseases that could develop as a result of exposure
to asbestos include pleural disorders such as asbestosis, pleural
thickening, pleural plaques, and pleural effusions. Scientists discovered
this fact after conducting many studies on patients that had cumulative
asbestos exposures of 5 to 1,200 fiber-year/mL. This metric is common
on patients who have had 40 years of occupational asbestos exposure,
with air concentrations of 0.125 to 30 fiber/mL... (Read
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