Company pleads guilty to improper asbestos removal

Thursday, March 26, 1998 | 10:49 a.m.

The Landmark hotel-casino was imploded in November 1995, but the dust might just have settled this week -- asbestos dust, that is.

Central Environmental Inc., an Alaska-based corporation, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to improperly removing asbestos from the resort before it was demolished. The plea was entered before Senior U.S. District Judge Lloyd George.

The failure to remove all of the asbestos was discovered by local authorities prior to demolition and the old fire-retardant materials that cause cancer and respiratory disease were removed before the building was destroyed.

It was charged in court documents that the violations occurred between February and June of 1994.

By entering the plea agreement, the company agreed to pay what amounts to a $75,000 fine within the next three months. The actual fine was $200,000 but George suspended $125,000 of it because of the firm's subsequent assistance in cleaning up the property prior to demolition.

The fine also was reduced because CEI paid $52,000 to the Clark County Health District and agreed to make significant changes in its management and corporate structure to ensure that similar violations do not recur, Bobby Siller, special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, said.

The case was investigated by both the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Kathryn Landreth, U.S. attorney for Nevada, said the company knew it was in violation of "the work practice standards relating to the removal of asbestos-containing materials under the Clean Air Act."