TENNESSEE – The owner and operator of a Tennessee salvage and demolition company, A&E Salvage Inc., plead guilty Wednesday in federal court to violating the Clean Air Act, officials said.
Mark Sawyer pleaded guilty to one criminal felony count for conspiring to violate the work standards regarding the proper handling and disposing of asbestos.
According to the charges, Sawyer, along with other co-conspirators, engaged in a multi-year scheme in which substantial amounts of regulated asbestos containing materials were improperly removed from components of the former Liberty Fibers Plant or were illegally left in place during demolition, officials said.
Sawyer faces up to five years in prison. He is the last of five charged co-defendants to plead guilty, officials said.
Sawyer, Eric Gruenberg, Nick Smith, Armida DiSanti and Milto DiSanti are due to be sentenced on Nov. 19, according to authorities.
Asbestos has been determined to cause lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, an invariably fatal disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.