02-05-2025
AG punishes companies over asbestos cleanup at former Springfield YMCA
SPRINGFIELD — The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced settlements Friday with two companies over illegal asbestos work at the former YMCA of Greater Springfield building at 275 Chestnut St.
Defendants will pay $105,000 into Environmental Justice Trust and additional civil penalties.
Ray Services Inc. and Allegrone Construction Co. Inc. were accused of violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act and its asbestos regulation by illegally handling, removing and storing asbestos-contaminated demolition debris, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office said in a statement.
Home City Development Inc. is redeveloping the former Y into housing.
In 2021, Ray and Allegrone were accused of storing asbestos-containing materials in and around a rusted-through storage container next to a parking lot and playground, storing asbestos abatement equipment in an unsecured room next to an active classroom and scraping asbestos-containing material without keeping it sufficiently wet and without ensuring the work area was contained.
'This illegal work risked harm to the defendants' employees and contractors, as well as the public and environment in the dense residential and commercial neighborhood surrounding the former YMCA,' the AG's office said in a statement.
Under the terms with Ray, the company will pay a $150,000 civil penalty, $50,000 of which will be suspended contingent upon Ray's avoiding future violations of the Clean Air Act, and $50,000 of which will be paid into the state's Environmental Justice Fund to support on-the-ground projects to address environmental harms in disadvantaged communities.
Under the terms with Allegrone, the company will pay a $150,000 civil penalty, $40,000 of which will be suspended contingent upon Allegrone's avoiding future violations of the Clean Air Act, and $55,000 will be paid into the enviro-justice fund.
Two other companies already have been disciplined for their work at the same site.
In March, Suffolk Superior Court entered a separate consent judgment with O'Reilly, Talbot & Okun Associates Inc., the asbestos project monitor for the work, requiring it to pay a $25,000 penalty in relation to some of the asbestos violations.
In January 2024, the same court entered a default judgment against Service Transport Group Inc., the company that provided the faulty storage container for the project.
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