Khalil Mahmoud Saad, Clean Air Act Violations, Michigan 2012

A Dearborn man was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for violating the Clean Air Act.

Khalil Mahmoud Saad, 40, was sentenced yesterday before United States District Judge Paul D. Borman in Detroit.

On November 2011, Saad was hired as a demolition contractor to tear down a vacant commercial warehouse building located at 10401 Ford Road, Dearborn, Michigan, and dispose of the demolition debris.

An asbestos consultant hired by the defendant inspected the building before the demolition began, and identified more than one-thousand linear feet of asbestos-containing pipe insulation, as well as asbestos-containing insulation on a large boiler.

However, Saad failed to follow proper procedures such as failing to adequately wet regulated asbestos-containing material and ensure that it remained wet until collected or treated in preparation for disposal, both violations of the Clean Air Act’s asbestos regulations.

“The temptation is great to save money by cutting corners when tearing down buildings by failing to properly abate asbestos, but that conduct contaminates our clean air and exposes people to hazardous materials,” said United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade.

“Exposure to asbestos can lead to serious, even fatal diseases, and unsafe asbestos removal and demolition practices put the health of both the workers and the public at risk,” said Randall Ashe, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal investigation division in Chicago.

The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan, by Assistant United States Attorneys Jennifer Gorland, Jennifer Blackwell and Special Assistant United States Attorney James Cha. The case was investigated by agents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division.

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