Company fined for violations in Williamsburg demolition

An Iowa County judge has assessed an $80,000 civil penalty against a West Des Moines business and its owner for violating state asbestos disposal laws in the demolition of a Williamsburg truck stop.

Iowa District Court Judge Paul Miller on Monday fined Jai Santoshi Ma Inc. and its owner, Bhupen Patel of West Des Moines, for environmental violations during and after demolition of the former Middle America Truck Stop.

Jai Santoshi Ma owns the property at 120 Hawkeye Dr. in Williamsburg.

According to a petition filed in April 2013 by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, Patel andJai Santoshi Ma arranged to demolish the truck stop in May and June of 2012. Before beginning the demolition, the petition claims Patel andJai Santoshi Ma failed to inspect for asbestos and notify the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

On May 25, 2012, a DNR field office received a telephone complaint alleging Patel began demolishing a building without conducting an asbestos inspection and was planning to bury the waste on site. On May 30, Jim Kacer, a DNR environmental specialist, investigated the complaint and met with Ken Odom, the contractor hired by Patel to demolish the building.

Kacer told Odom that the demolition waste may contain asbestos and could not be buried at that location. Odom was told to stop the demolition until an asbestos inspection was conducted and the results were sent to DNR.

On May 31, Kacer called Patel and told him that the demolition needed to stop until the asbestos inspection was completed and a report made to DNR. Patel also was told that the demolition waste could not be buried on the site.

Patel told Kacer that he did not intend to bury the waste on site. He also told Kacer that he had contacted an environmental consultant, Gaylen Hiesterman of Waterloo, an operations manager with ATC Associates of New York, for assistance with the demolition.

On June 1, 2012, DNR issued a notice of violation to Patel ordering a halt to the demolition until the building and debris were checked for asbestos. Patel was ordered to notify the DNR if asbestos was found and to dispose of it properly by alerting the Iowa County Landfill that the debris contained asbestos.

On June 4, 2012, John Avery, Williamsburg public works director, called the DNR to report the above ground portion of the former truck stop had been demolished over the previous weekend. On June 12, 2012, Hiesterman told DNR representatives that some of the demolition debris had been taken off site for disposal and some had been buried on site.

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Company fined for violations in Williamsburg demolition