Mayo Group real estate firm arraigned on asbestos removal

WORCESTER – A Boston-based real estate company with substantial holdings in Lynn was arraigned Friday in Worcester Superior Court for allegedly removing and improperly disposing of asbestos from a 10-story building in downtown Worcester while tenants were inside.A Worcester County grand jury on Jan. 23 returned indictments against the Mayo Group Development LLC, a real estate investment, development and management firm, for violating the Clean Air Act . The company allegedly twice failed to file notices of asbestos removal with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), twice failed to comply with procedures for asbestos emissions control and improperly disposed of the substance known to cause health problems in humans.According to Jill Butterworth, deputy press secretary to state Attorney General Martha Coakley, the charges stem from an investigation by DEP investigators and engineers and the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force (ECSF), an interagency unit that includes prosecutors from the attorney general’s office, along with state Environmental Police.The Mayo Group, a member of the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce with an office at 503 Washington St. in Lynn, pleaded innocent to all charges Friday and was scheduled to return to court April 9 for a pre-trial conference.Authorities allege the Mayo Group used its own employees to demolish parts of Worcester Commons, a 10-story building at 50 Franklin St. in Worcester and failed to conduct a full asbestos survey of the structure and properly remove asbestos from the site before it began demolition or renovation work. The indictment also alleges that residents were living in the building while workers were demolishing structural elements that contained asbestos, a known carcinogen.Documents filed with the case indicate that in February 2007, DEP employees observed demolition debris being thrown out of a window at Worcester Commons. A subsequent inspection led to the discovery of impacted asbestos containing material within the building and in a waste pile and disposal trailer on the property’s premises. It was further alleged that asbestos from the site was scheduled for disposal at a landfill that was not a designated site for the disposal of asbestos waste, according to Butterworth.The DEP issued a cease-and-desist order the following spring and another inspection found asbestos in material on the second floor of the building. Authorities have alleged that unauthorized asbestos removal continued in other parts of the building where residents continued to reside, posing a risk to both residents and the workers involved.Assistant Attorney General Wendoly Ortiz Langlois from the attorney general Environmental Crimes Strike Force is prosecuting the case. Anyone with information regarding a potential environmental crime is encouraged to contact the Strike Force hotline at 1-888-VIOLATE (846-5283) or call the attorney general’s office at 617-727-2200.