New York Property Owner and Manager Sentenced to 21 Months in Federal Prison for Conspiring to Violate the Clean Air Act

John Francis Mills, 64, the owner of more than a dozen properties in Malone, New York, and Terrance Allen, 57, the maintenance manager of Mills’ properties, were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy to serve 21 months each in prison for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act standards for the safe removal of asbestos during renovations of three of Mills’ properties, for releasing asbestos into the environment and failing to notify the authorities, all in violation of the Clean Air Act’s asbestos work practice standards, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).

Mills’ and Allen’s prison sentences will be followed by two years of supervised release.  In addition, Mills must also pay a $25,000 fine and a $300 crime victim special assessment fee.

On Jan. 21, 2014, Mills and Allen, both of Malone, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate CERCLA.  Mills also pleaded guilty to two counts of knowingly violating CERCLA for failing to immediately report the release of more than a pound of asbestos from properties owned by Mills.  In addition to the conspiracy, Allen pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly violating CERCLA.  Mills owned the buildings from which more than 260 linear feet of pipe wrap containing asbestos had been removed by one of Mills’ employees.  Mills and Allen directed that employee to remove the asbestos pipe wrap from 458 East Main Street, 144 Elm Street, and 100 Elm Street, all properties owned by Mills, and managed by Allen, who oversaw the asbestos removal work.   

As part of the plea, Mills and Allen admitted that that they knowingly failed to report to the National Response Center the release of asbestos, in the form of thermal system insulation, or “pipe wrap,” that had been removed from the basement of buildings owned and operated by John Mills, as soon as they knew of the release.  They also admitted to illegally removing and disposing of more than 260 linear feet of pipe wrap containing asbestos.  Mills and Allen directed an employee to remove the pipe wrap containing asbestos without warning him or giving him adequate personal protective equipment.  They transported and caused others to transport that pipe wrap, which was in open bags, in the open bed of a pickup truck.  They further admitted that they conspired together to violate CERCLA.  The asbestos pipe wrap was deposited by the defendants in a UHaul-style box truck owned by Mills and a shed maintained by the Malone Department of Public Works in an effort to conceal the material from authorities.

The Clean Air Act requires that owners of public buildings that contain asbestos follow federally established work practice standards to ensure the safe removal of the asbestos.  The required standards include providing notice to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before starting asbestos removal, adequately wetting the asbestos during the removal and before disposal, and properly disposing of the asbestos at an EPA-approved disposal site.

The investigation was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the New York State Department of Labor Asbestos Control Bureau with assistance from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Malone Police Department and the Malone Department of Public Works.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Lana N. Pettus and Gary N. Donner, paralegal Puja Moozhikkattu and litigation support specialist Elga Ozols of the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.