A routine asbestos-removal job at a Bellevue home has led to Seattle Environmental Services LLC facing over $200,000 in proposed penalties after state inspectors found workers removing nearly 3,000 square feet of asbestos-containing walls and ceilings without proper respiratory protection. The company is also accused of misleading investigators about whether the material had been tested for asbestos.
On Jan. 26, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries cited the company for a long list of violations, including 10 willful serious violations, six serious violations and four general violations, and issued an Order of Immediate Restraint when inspectors could not find proof that the building materials had been tested, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. Inspectors photographed yellow asbestos disposal bags at the site and a negative-air machine running inside, and the agency says the contractor initially tried to describe the work as a general demolition job. L&I allowed work at the house to resume on Sept. 29 after the employer later worked with inspectors to have the debris removed properly.
Test results that surfaced hours later confirmed that “almost 3,000 square feet” of the home’s walls and ceilings contained asbestos, and by that time three workers had already removed the material without proper respirators or decontamination showers, as reported by KOMO. Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said the company “This employer was cutting corners on safety.” The company now has until midnight on February 20 to file an appeal.
Who Is the Contractor?
State licensing records list Seattle Environmental Services LLC as a certified asbestos abatement contractor with a Kent business address, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries registry. The firm markets asbestos testing and removal across King and Pierce counties in its business listings, yet the Bellevue citation alleges the company failed to follow required sampling procedures, ignored respiratory-protection rules and mishandled asbestos waste on the job…