Swampscott firm on Hook for $100G over asbestos violations

A Swampscott demolition company has been ordered to pay the Commonwealth $100,000 in civil penalties for the alleged improper removal and disposal of asbestos-containing waste at several locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts, including the Hook Lobster Co. building, Attorney General Martha Coakley said.

Total Dismantling and Carting Services Inc. and its successor, The Total Group Inc., both of Swampscott, violated the states Clean Air Act by repeatedly removing and disposing of asbestos-containing material without notifying the state Department of Environmental Protection that the work was going to occur, Coakley said.

A complaint also alleges that Total Dismantling and Carting Services and Removal Specialists demolished the former Hook Lobster Building in 2008 after it burned in a fire without removing all of the asbestos-containing material first and without notifying MassDEP that it was going to perform the work. Additionally, the company allegedly failed to use the proper containment procedures at the Hook Lobster demolition site and during transport to an unpermitted storage site in Revere, the complaint stated.

Violations also occurred at three other demolition sites in Saugus, Malden and Swampscott. Half of the amount in the settlement is suspended provided the companies comply with the judgment and commit no further violations during a five-year probationary period, Coakley said.

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Swampscott firm on Hook for $100G over asbestos violations