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A semi-regular column City hits regulatory wall in dealing with asbestos concrete; one worker, non-smoker, diagnosed with lung cancer
Venice Florida! dot com goes to the wall to successfully shut down a job site; per fed regs, only a "competent person," meaning someone who has taken a federally mandated 40-hour course and passed the test, may supervise asbestos-concrete jobs -- nobody on the city payroll has ever taken the course
-- John Patten, 07/13/04, revised 07/15/04
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com Got a comment? Make it here. Here we go again again
The Venice Gondolier Sun is reporting today that complaints from a "resident" caused the city to shut down an asbestos-concrete pipe repair job on Gibbs Road in Venice. That "resident" was this web site.Much as we would like to take credit, our complaints are not what caused the job site shutdown, at least not directly. Venice Florida! dot com showed up at the job site and the job went on. The Gondo showed up as well, and the project was still greenlighted. Credit the job shutdown to a conversation that utilities supervisor Chris Sharek had with a representative from the EPA on Monday morning, a conversation that Venice Florida! dot com helped to engineer. Venice Florida! dot com had been in touch with both Sharek and the EPA rep, and we had urged Sharek to make contact with the EPA prior to the dig. Sharek did make several calls to the EPA and finally on Monday morn, the EPA returned Sharek's call. That conversation prompted the shutdown of the dig. Later on Monday, Sharek reportedly made an announcement to the utilities workforce that the city would cease any more asbestos concrete cutting jobs until and unless the federally mandated educational requirements had been met by the utilities department. Which is exactly what this web site had been asking for all along. Two e-mails that are public record pretty much spell out the full story. The first is from this web site to the city manager and all members of council, the second is a response from Councilwoman Vicki Taylor. As a side note, a specialty company from Tampa (E.G.G. ?) was hired to do air quality testing. The job site as described in the Gondo story and below was shut down, but the company had to be paid anyway, to the tune of a reported $800. Worker, non-smoker, dx'd with lung cancer
In the wake of all this came terrifying news. Late yesterday it was learned that one of the city's utilities workers (whose name is being withheld by Venice Florida! dot com), was recently diagnosed and operated on for lung cancer. The man is in his mid-to-late 40s and is a non-smoker. He will be undergoing his first chemotherapy session later this week. According to inside sources, the worker has been cutting asbestos concrete for the city over a 17 year period, all without the use of any federally mandated protective equipment, including a simple breathing mask. | click on pictures below for enlarged views | 
12" Stihl concrete cutoff saw -- a powerful and useful tool that kicks up one heck of a lot of concrete dust; this was one of two identical cutoff saws that were at the job site
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Two city workers digging down to the asbestos concrete pipe at the end of Gibbs Road | 
The hole after it had been filled back in -- 92-year-old Betty Kosakowski's front yard and house is shown, adjacent to the dig |
The e-mails tell the story From: John Patten
To: City Manager Marty Black, interim City Manager Mike Johnson, Mayor Dean Calamaras and all members of council, via Lori Stelzer, City Clerk
Subject: Asbestos
Date: July 13, 2004, 10:06 am
On Friday, July 9, I received a call from a utilities worker who stated that the city was about to do a dig at the end of Gibbs Road to cap off an asbestos concrete pipe (ACP) water line. The worker stated that the city still didn't have some safety equipment, such as fitted masks and a Hepavac. Also that nobody on staff with the city was qualified or certified to be doing such work, that the education process was far from complete.
Chris Sharek had called for volunteers -- nobody came forward. A work crew was assigned anyway.
I called Marty Black and informed him of the concerns as expressed to me as well as my reservations that the city would be following EPA guidelines. Marty assured me that he would talk to Chris Sharek and see to it that everything was done legal and on the up and up.
Over the weekend, I was getting news that the dig was back on. Marty was out of town as he was out on an announced planned Boy Scouts outing.
I finally called Chris Sharek myself on Sunday. Sharek told me he had already spoken with Marty Black and had assured him that everything was being done legally and in accordance with rules and regs and that there was nothing to worry about.
I asked Sharek about the fitted masks and the Hepavac, Sharek replied that OSHA guidelines do not require that.
That's when Sharek and I started butting heads in the conversation and when I realized that Sharek had not been truthful with Marty Black. The city is not regulated by OSHA when it comes to asbestos issues, the proper regulatory agency is the EPA. I told Sharek that obeying OSHA guidelines was about as relevant as obeying YMCA guidelines -- it's the wrong agency for the city to be trying to appease.
Sharek admitted knowing that the EPA was the proper regulatory agency, but then stated, "Well, that's the way we're doing it and if we're wrong, oh well, we'll just pay the fine... We've been doing it wrong for so long, a few more times isn't going to hurt anything."
Sharek stated E.G.G. (I believe that is the name of the company) would be there from Tampa to do air quality testing at the job site and that the city would be wetting down the concrete as they were cutting it.
I told Sharek that based on what I had learned, what he was about to do was wrong and that if I was correct, governmental fines might be the least of his worries as the EPA has a history of arresting and criminally charging people over mishandling of asbestos. Sharek was unimpressed.
On Monday morning, a utilities meeting was called by Sharek. According to an account that I received, Sharek had yelled at the men, telling them to shut up, sit down and be quiet. Sharek stated he demanded respect and that the phone calls he received from myself and Marty showed disrespect from the men in the room. He reportedly wanted to know who had made the calls and he wanted the calls stopped.
The dig was to go on along with the pipe cutting.
I showed up at the job site and took two photos, one of which was of a Stihl 12" gas-powered concrete saw, one of two that were at the job site. I'm more than passingly familiar with the tool, this is a tool that, when used, kicks up a tremendous amount of concrete dust. The other photo was of men digging.
I also overheard a phone conversation in which a pipe snapper was ordered out to the job site, which is the proper, preferred tool when dealing with ACP. I was later told that the snapper in question is a tool that is used on sewer lines and that it has no business being used on drinking water line, but that's a different issue than what I'm addressing here.
I spoke with Dave Adinolfi at the job site. I asked him if there would be a Hepavac and he stated no, that OSHA guidelines do not require it. I reminded Adinolfi that the city is governed by EPA guidelines, not OSHA. He shrugged and stated "That's the way it is."
I didn't stick around after that as I wanted to be nowhere near the place when they started cutting the ACP.
I called around to neighbors -- on that particular street, the houses are right up against the street with little to no front yards. I spoke with Janice Novak, a caregiver for 92-year-old Betty Kosakowski and with Alicia Berger, a young woman who was staying at the Martin residence. Neither had been told that there was an asbestos cut going on, that it would be advisable not to go outside. Both knew that the city was working on the water lines but that is all that they knew.
I later learned that the Gondolier had shown up to take pictures and that subsequently a decision was made by the city to stop the job.
The pipe never was cut, the dirt was filled back in and the work crews left.
I have several questions.
1.) For the ACP jobs, why isn't the city farming the work out to qualified, certified and licensed people? Since nobody at the city is qualified to do the work, the city has effectively locked itself out of legally being able to do the work. This idea of "We'll just pay the fines" is asinine -- for starters, the people making these decisions don't pay the fines, we the taxpayers end up paying them. But even that pales in importance to the health ramifications.
My belief is that if the city cannot provide qualified licensed and certified people to do the job, then the job should not be done. Period. I realize this paints the utilities department into a nearly unworkable situation regarding routine maintenance, but this is a quandary that the department willingly allowed itself to get stuck in. Placing workers in harm's way and forcing them to knowingly commit illegal criminal acts is not an acceptable solution on any level.
2.) Why are workers being berated for seeking help and making phone calls? In the recently filed lawsuit on behalf of three utilities workers (Petitt, Evans & Campbell vs. The City of Venice), that is one of the key issues in the suit, that the city is alleged to have violated 1st Amendment rights by trying to limit who workers could talk to and what they could say. Item number 9 in the complaint reads as follows: "Then-City Manager, Mr. Hunt, acting under color of state law, intentionally violated plaintiffs' First Amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States when Mr. Hunt engaged in a policy and practice of retaliatory employment actions against the plaintiffs because of their exercise of free speech in violation of 42 U.S.C. Section 1983."
It shouldn't matter if employees call me or anyone else. If the city has nothing to hide, such phone calls are harmless. Moreover, such an informational clampdown invariably backfires. With Hunt, when the clampdown occurred and as it continued, more phone calls were made, not less. As fear increases, people will take more risks in enlisting help order to try to ensure that their jobs are safe. Mr. Sharek will discover the same thing should he continue down this road if he is not discovering it already.
3.) Why am I viewed as a refuge of last resort? What is wrong with this picture? Why is it that as soon as Marty Black steps out the door there is nobody that the workers feel they can turn to? I don't even work for the city, yet I am viewed by many workers as the only person in the city who gives a genuine damn about them and their welfare. Where is the union in all of this -- isn't this their function? Where is human resources?
4.) How is it that the city is still allowing this kind of thing to occur? Just because the EPA and the DEP are investigating the city, this should not mean that the city is impotent in dealing with these issues. What happened this past weekend was a sneaky end-run -- as soon as Marty Black was out of the picture, even for a moment, the utilities department shifted right back into old habits and patterns, the same habits and patterns that have caused numerous legal problems for the city.
I am requesting that the city investigate this matter fully and to resolve this issue so that it does not happen again. I am singularly unamused that Marty Black was deceived and that the utilities department is intent on not obeying the rules and regulations of the proper regulatory agency, namely the EPA.
Once again, I reiterate: the city needs to resolve this issue once and for all SO THAT IT DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN!!!
Sincerely,
John Patten
-- www.venfl.com
-- (941) 484-0488 --------------------- From: Vicki Taylor
To: [list of all members of council, plus other city officials]
Subject: Re: Fwd: Asbestos
Date: July 13, 2004, 9:22 pm
It is unfortunate that there is an allegation that employees feel compelled to call John Patten versus speaking with their supervisors. I believe all employees should feel comfortable in approaching their respective supervisors in an open door policy atmosphere.
I believe in and support the City Manager 100% and unfortunately his time has been spent more on cleaning up the former Administration's alleged and (seems more factual every day) disregard for City policies and procedures and State and Federal regulations.
Although Council Members should not have a day to day input on how the City and its managers operate since we delegate this; I cannot ignore alleged employees or managers not obeying City policies and procedures, etc., to the detriment of their departments, Charter Officers, Council Members, and more importantly, to the Citizens of Venice.
All City policies and procedures and State and Federal regulations should be followed by every employee and that includes elected officials.
If these allegations are founded I support the City Manager to enforce all counseling measures up to and including termination to ALL affected employees.
Sincerely,
Vicki Taylor
John Patten is the editor and publisher of Venice Florida! dot com and had previously worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times. |
