Washington contractor facing fines over asbestos removal

A contractor in Pierce County, Washington, is facing $134,500 in fines for violating more than two dozen workplace safety rules while removing a home’s popcorn ceiling, which contained asbestos, and using untrained and unprotected workers to perform the job, the Washington Department of Labor and Industries reported Wednesday.

Spurred by a homeowner’s complaint to the department, inspectors found that Great North West Painting LLC performed the removal without any of the work practices, engineering controls, or protective equipment required.

Company owner Bogdan Karcha told L&I inspectors he could not provide workers’ full names or any evidence they’d been trained or even notified that the work they were hired to do involved asbestos.

The workers, who were photographed by inspectors, weren’t wearing sufficient respirators for asbestos work so they were exposed to the hazardous material, according to the department, which cited the company for four willful serious, 19 serious, and five general violations.