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August 16, 2019

Asbestos violation at commercial site leads to probation, fine

PHOTO | New Haven Biz U.S. District Court in New Haven
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A Trumbull man who illegally removed asbestos from commercial property he co-owned in New Haven has been sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton imposed the sentence Wednesday on Aleks Rakaj, 46, in a proceeding in New Haven. In May, Rakaj pleaded guilty to one count of illegal asbestos removal in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Rakaj is the third and final defendant charged in connection with the incident. His relatives, Rezart Rakaj of Ansonia and Kliton Rakaj of Monroe, previously were sentenced to one year of probation and a $9,500 fine.

The three men bought commercial property at 206-220 Wallace Street and started renovating it in 2015. The Rakaj family has operated multiple businesses, including construction company Creative Masonry & Construction, fuel oil distributor Federal Oil, and rental property company Rakaj Realty. The realty and construction companies were dissolved in 2018, while the oil business is listed as active, according to the Secretary of the State’s office.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, a Realtor told the men the property contained asbestos. Instead of hiring a professional abatement company, they retained workers who spent days doing renovations and removing asbestos. While workers wore dust masks and suits, they weren’t adequate for asbestos protection, prosecutors said. The asbestos also wasn’t properly disposed of at appropriate sites, according to the government.

Inspectors with the City of New Haven’s Health Department discovered the illegal asbestos removal project on Nov. 20, 2015, during an unannounced visit to the site. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elena Coronado and Sarala Nagala, who prosecuted the case, asserted in a pre-sentencing document that the defendant and his partners chose not to engage a hazardous materials firm to avoid paying the approximately $117,000 cost to fix it.

“The defendant’s offense was serious,” prosecutors said in the document. “The dangers posed by exposure to asbestos are widely known and rightly feared. As discussed above, even a single exposure to asbestos can, years later, result in disease, cancer, suffering and death.”

Tyler C. Amon, special agent in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division in New England, said the illegal removal of asbestos from old buildings “continues to be a problem throughout the Northeast.”

“Inhalation of asbestos fibers can result in lung cancer and it therefore poses significant health risks to all exposed,” Amon said in a statement following the sentencing. “EPA will continue to hold accountable those who commit such offenses.”

Attorney Norman Pattis of New Haven, who represents Aleks Rakaj, said in a defense memorandum to the court that his client acknowledged he knew about the asbestos and “has accepted responsibility for his actions.”

“His guilty plea has already made him far more determined to comply with environmental laws and regulations,” Pattis said. “He remains active in the renovation of properties and is taking affirmative steps in a New York project to assure that asbestos-removal regulations are complied with in that case.” 

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com

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