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Kankakee Clean Air Act Defendant Gets Six Months in Prison
Urbana, Ill. – In a case that highlights the dangers of environmental crime, Michael Pinski, a 44-year-old Kankakee, Ill., man, was sentenced to six months in prison for violating the Clean Air Act related to the illegal and unsafe removal of asbestos from a building he owned.
On Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey handed down the sentence, which also included two years of supervised release, including six months of home detention. Pinski was ordered to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Feb. 20, 2013.
The charges against Pinski stem from an asbestos removal job that took place at a warehouse in Kankakee, Illinois, that he owned. Pinski pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act by failing to notify the Illinois EPA of the planned asbestos removal work. The charges were investigated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund Division.
Pinski’s case is part of a larger investigation into environmental crime in the Kankakee area. Two other defendants, Duane “Butch” O’Malley, 60, of Bourbonnais, and James A. Mikrut, 50, of Manteno, were also charged in connection with the asbestos removal job. O’Malley was sentenced to 10 years in prison, fined $15,000, and ordered to remain on supervised release for three years following completion of his prison sentence. Mikrut was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release under home detention, and was ordered to pay $47,085 in restitution to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA has promulgated strict rules and regulations to control the removal, handling, and disposal of asbestos, a hazardous air pollutant. Any owner or operator of a renovation or demolition activity that involves the removal of specified amounts of asbestos-containing material must comply with the EPA regulations.
According to court documents, Pinski hired O’Malley to remove the asbestos insulation from pipes in a five-story building at 197 South West Ave., in Kankakee. O’Malley, who was not trained to perform the asbestos removal work, agreed to remove the asbestos for an amount that was substantially less than a trained asbestos abatement contractor would have charged. O’Malley also arranged for Mikrut to recruit and oversee workers to remove the asbestos.
The government’s evidence showed that there was no notification of the planned asbestos removal work given to the Illinois EPA or the U.S. EPA, among other various violations of the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Environmental Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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