An Aurora, Colorado developer, Richard Oliver, was indicted by a statewide grand jury on December 29, 2008 on charges that he used untrained workers to remove asbestos and suborned one employee who was subpoenaed by the grand jury to testify.
Oliver, 61, is charged with two counts of causing or contributing to a hazardous waste incident, one count of knowing endangerment, and one count of bribery of a witness. According to Colorado Attorney General John Suthers, the violations occurred between January 1 and May 1 of 2008, on properties Oliver was renovating.
According to the grand jury, Oliver removed and then illegally disposed of asbestos-containing materials from properties located at 1920 Chester Street and 1921, 1931 and 1941 Clinton Street, all in the suburb of Aurora. By doing so, Oliver also knowingly endangered at least three of his employees by exposing them to asbestos without their knowledge. Oliver also failed to provide them with proper protective equipment.
Apparently, Oliver was advised of the inherent danger in the Clinton Street properties by a state-licensed asbestos remediation contractor, who gave Oliver a bid for removal. Oliver rejected the bid and said he would "hire a bunch of Mexicans" instead, according to a report made to the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment by the remediation specialist.
That Oliver's workers were immigrant labor is not surprising. That Oliver knowingly withheld information on the danger of asbestos removal from them - and then failed to provide protective equipment - is criminal. That Oliver then bribed one of these unfortunate immigrants into falsifying testimony in an attempt to cast blame on the remediation specialist instead is beyond heinous.
The case has been filed in Adams County District Court, but no appearance dates have yet been set. If convicted on all counts, Oliver faces a possible sentence of 18 years. His workers will have their sentences delayed by several decades, but their penalty will likely be death.
Asbestos causes mesothelioma, a form of usually lethal lung cancer which develops from the lung lesions created by inhaled asbestos fibers. The symptoms don't commonly exhibit for 20 to 50 years, and then the prognosis is very poor. Most mesothelioma patients die within a year of diagnosis, largely from the complications associated with the disease.
Oliver could not be reached for comment Monday, and Colorado officials have not revealed the location of Oliver's dump site or the names of the workers.
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