Asbestos-removal company fined for safety breaches

OLYMPIA – The state’s worker-safety watchdog has slapped an asbestos-cleanup company in Spokane with a big fine after workers allegedly ignored safety practices while removing asbestos from a boiler earlier this year in Moses Lake.

Phalon Abatement Services workers “intentionally and willfully disregarded” asbestos rules while trying to rush through a job, according to the state inspection report, signed by state industrial hygienist supervisor Marty Weis.

A lawyer for the company said that Phalon filed an appeal Thursday, and that state officials don’t have a complete picture of what led to the problems.

“It appears that we had a rogue employee who’s responsible for everything,” said Seattle attorney Aaron Owada.

The girlfriend of that employee, identified in state paperwork as Doug Geier, essentially agreed with that assessment in an interview Thursday. Debby Skehan said Geier, a supervisor with the company, was tired and rushed through a job because he wanted to get home.

“He did screw up, and he knows it was his screw-up,” Skehan said. “Phalon had nothing to do with it. They didn’t even know that Doug had done this.”

The $144,000 fine is the 10th-largest workplace-safety fine imposed by the state Department of Labor and Industries since 1995.

“When you consider what a small business it is, this is a really large citation,” said Elaine Fischer, a spokeswoman for the agency. “And that’s reflective of the number of different violations that were found.”

Company owner Tim Phalon, reached on his cell phone, referred questions to Owada.

Phalon Abatement is a state-licensed asbestos contractor with four employees. It’s been in business for five years. Owada said the company has a solid record of complying with asbestos-abatement regulations. Asbestos, a mineral widely used for decades in brake shoes, pipe insulation, floor tiles and ceilings, has been linked to lung disease and cancer.

The fine involves a project in Moses Lake last January. Phalon Abatement was hired to remove asbestos-containing vinyl tiles, cement board, and pipe and boiler insulation at an office building at 323 S. Pioneer Way.

According to the state’s inspection report, two L&I officials showed up in a surprise visit at the worksite around 10 a.m. They met Jackie Van De Bogart, a company supervisor. During the inspection, they asked to see the boiler room. She told them it was locked and she didn’t have the key.

The inspectors also wanted to talk to Geier. But Van De Bogart said she couldn’t find him.

The two inspectors took some documents and said they’d be back in about 90 minutes. “We both agreed that Jackie appeared to be hiding something,” one wrote in the report.

So they just pretended to leave. They drove off, went around the block, and pulled into a nearby car dealership where they could watch the job site.

They saw Van De Bogart carry some equipment to the boiler room door, and heard her say, “Doug, let me in,” according to the report. The inspectors confronted her and Geier, who was dressed in dirty street clothes, rather than a paper suit, boots and gloves. He was carrying a respirator.

Inside the room, the report says, asbestos insulation from the boiler and pipes covered the floor. There was no decontamination shower. No air sampling had been done. No tent of plastic sheeting had been built around the work area. And the asbestos insulation – which is supposed to be handled wet, to minimize airborne fibers – was dry.

“It was apparent from the beginning of the inspection that corners were being cut and employees were trying to complete the asbestos removal in the least amount of time possible,” the report reads.

In a subsequent meeting with L&I officials, Tim Phalon said Geier “got up on top of the boiler and all of the insulation material fell off. Doug panicked and started bagging the insulation.” Phalon said he’d visited the job site a day earlier and that the boiler insulation was intact.

Geier was out on a job Thursday and couldn’t immediately be reached. But Skehan, his girlfriend, said that he feels terrible about what happened.

“Nobody feels worse than Doug does for doing this,” she said. “Doug was tired. He cut corners, and he wanted to get home early. It was his own fault.”

Owada said Phalon Abatement is still working on its defenses in the case.

“We truly believe that the department doesn’t have all the facts,” he said.