Landlords Fined For Illegal Asbestos Removal On Wallace Street

A federal judge fined two property-owning brothers $9,500 each and sentenced each to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service for illegal and dangerous removal of asbestos from a Mill River warehouse.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton’s handed down the sentences Monday to 35-year-old Ansonia resident Rezart Rakaj and 39-year-old Monroe resident Kliton Rakaj, the brothers who own the nearly 43,000 square-foot warehouse at 206 Wallace St.

The Rakajs bought the Mill River warehouse in November 2015.

Before they purchased the property, the realtor informed the Rakajs that the property contained asbestos, and that a prior potential purchased had already obtained a bid of approximately $117,000 for the legal clean up of the asbestos on the property.

But the Rakajs didn’t hire a hazardous materials firm to perform the necessary asbestos removal, according to court records.

Instead, they hired workers who spent multiple days ​“demolishing portions of the property, ripping out piping, breaking tiles, and conducting other renovation and construction activities, including the removal of significant quantities of friable asbestos.”

After receiving an anonymous tip on Nov. 20, 2015, the city’s Health Department sent an inspector to the property, who found a number of instances of illegal removal of asbestos.

“The workers performed no wetting,” states a Monday afternoon press release from the office of U.S. District Attorney for the District of Connecticut John Durham, ​“used no negative air machines to create the required vacuum effect within workspaces and set up no critical barriers or protective sheeting to guard against the release of dangerous asbestos fibers into the environment. Though the workers wore dust masks and suits, the masks were not designed for use in asbestos abatement and failed to provide protection against asbestos fibers. Similarly, because the suits were worn repeatedly over the course of days and not decontaminated and disposed of after use, they did not protect the workers against exposure. Inspectors also observed and photographed 100 – 150 standard garbage bags filled with suspected asbestos-containing material.”

In November 2018, the landlord brothers each pleaded guilty to one count of illegal asbestos removal in violation of the Clean Air Act.

In sentencing memorandums written on behalf of the Rakaj brothers on March 19, local attorney Kenneth Rosenthal stressed the brothers’ diligent work ethics as the children of an Albanian political refugee and clean criminal records before these asbestos-related charges.

Click here and here to download the sentencing memorandums.

Rosenthal wrote that both brothers moved to the United States in 1999 to join their father, Vasil Rakah, who had been granted political asylum the year before.

“Kliton is devoted to his family,” Rosenthal wrote about one of the brothers. ​“Despite working 12 to 14-hour days to support them, Kliton makes it priority to spend time with his wife and children, and to visit with his parents several times a week and the entire extended family every weekend. In addition, he maintains a commitment to assisting those in need outside the immediate family, including relatives in Albania.”

Furthermore, Rosenthal wrote, 206 Wallace St. had $90,000 in unpaid property taxes when the Rakaj brothers bought it in 2015.

“The company formed to acquire the property by Mr. Rakaj, his brother Rezart and an older cousin (Aleks Rakaj), 206 Wallace Street, LLC, paid off those taxes,” he wrote, ​“and ultimately restored the property to the tax-paying rolls of the City, where it remains to this day.”

Following the November 2015 inspection from the city’s Health Department, Rosenthal wrote, the brothers hired a hazardous materials firm to complete the asbestos removal property. ​“The building subsequently was granted the requisite permits to operate as an approved facility in the light industrial zone that it remains to this date,” he wrote.

Below is the full press release from U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut’s office.

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Tyler C. Amon, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in New England, announced that REZART RAKAJ, 35, of Ansonia, and KLITON RAKAJ, 39, of Monroe, were sentenced today in New Haven federal court for offenses related to the illegal and dangerous removal of asbestos at a New Haven property they were renovating in 2015. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton sentenced each defendant to one year of probation, a fine of $9,500, and 50 hours of community service.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in November 2015, Rezart Kliton Rakaj, who are brothers, and another family member purchased a commercial property located at 206 – 220 Wallace Street in New Haven. Prior to purchasing the property, the realtor informed the purchasers that the property contained asbestos, and that a prior potential purchaser had already obtained a bid of approximately $117,000 for the legal asbestos abatement of the property. Shortly after the purchase was completed, the defendants chose not to engage a hazardous materials firm to perform lawful asbestos abatement and instead employed workers who spent multiple days demolishing portions of the property, ripping out piping, breaking tiles, and conducting other renovation and construction activities, including the removal of significant quantities of friable asbestos.

On November 20, 2015, inspectors from the City of New Haven Health Department, acting on an anonymous complaint, discovered the illegal asbestos removal project at 206 – 220 Wallace Street. The inspection revealed multiple instances of illegal removal of asbestos containing ​“air cell” pipe wrap and asbestos-containing ​“mag block” tank and boiler insulation, both of which contain significant quantities of dangerous, friable asbestos. Inspectors observed workers removing asbestos-containing material and throwing it to the floor. The workers performed no wetting, used no negative air machines to create the required vacuum effect within workspaces and set up no critical barriers or protective sheeting to guard against the release of dangerous asbestos fibers into the environment. Though the workers wore dust masks and suits, the masks were not designed for use in asbestos abatement and failed to provide protection against asbestos fibers. Similarly, because the suits were worn repeatedly over the course of days and not decontaminated and disposed of after use, they did not protect the workers against exposure. Inspectors also observed and photographed 100 – 150 standard garbage bags filled with suspected asbestos-containing material.

“These defendants recklessly cut corners and endangered the lives of their workers,” said U.S. Attorney Durham. ​“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committing to prosecuting all who deliberately harm the environment and risk public health in order to save money.”

“The illegal removal of asbestos insulation and the associated removal of scrap pipe and boilers from old buildings continues to be a problem throughout the Northeast,” said EPS-CID Special Agent in Charge Amon. ​“Inhalation of asbestos fibers can result in lung cancer and it therefore poses significant health risks to all exposed. EPA will continue to hold accountable those who commit such offenses.”

On November 16, 2018, Rezart and Kliton Rakaj each pleaded guilty to one count of illegal asbestos removal in violation of the Clean Air Act.

In addition to the sentence imposed today, the defendants also face a fine from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Divisio, with the assistance of the City of New Haven Health Department and U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elena L. Coronado and Sarala V. Nagala.