Grid District developer, builder fined $500K over asbestos at Worcester's Park Plaza
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507 Main St. in Worcester
MG2 Group, the property investment group behind Worcester’ Grid District development, along with New Hampshire-based Advanced Building Systems, Inc. and Boston Environmental Corp., will pay $500,000 to settle allegations regarding illegal asbestos activity related to a demolition-renovation project at 507 Main St. in Worcester, Attorney General Maura Healey’s office announced on Friday.
507 Main St. is MG2's Park Plaza on the Grid project, which includes commercial and residential space, and sits across the street from City Hall.
“These companies recklessly put the health of their workers and families in Worcester at risk by not taking safety precautions when handling asbestos during construction work,” Healey said in a statement.
The AG’s complaint specifically alleges Quincy-based MG2 and its entities failed to notify the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protections of demolition and renovation work impacting asbestos-containing material, according to the AG’s office. MG2 group then allegedly failed to contain, handle and dispose of the asbestos legally.
Building tenants notified MassDEP about the illegal asbestos work, and the agency intervened to halt the unsafe work and order a cleanup. MG2 then, according to the AG’s office, hired ABS and BEC to perform and oversee the cleanup. However, MG2 and BEC allegedly allowed ABS to violate the cleanup plan and perform illegal abatement work, recontaminating areas of the building, according to the AG’s office. This potentially exposed tenants and workers to asbestos.
“Commercial property owners and building managers, as well as construction and asbestos consulting and abatement companies, are all well-aware of the need to identify asbestos-containing materials and must ensure that those materials are properly removed before beginning any demolition or renovation,” said MaryJude Pigsley, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester, in a statement.
As a result, MG2 will conduct an asbestos audit of 20 of its properties. The developer agreed to complete additional asbestos training requirements for its project managers and implement notification procedures to help MassDEP track and monitor the company’s asbestos work, according to the AG’s office.
In addition to the Grid District, MG2 has a number of other Worcester properties, including the historic building at 517 Main Street and another on Prescott Street it bought in auction this past December.
ABS has agreed to pay $125,000 in civil penalties, $25,000 of which will be suspended pending complaints with the consent judgment, as well as submit to enhance training and monitoring requirements. Brockton-based BEC has agreed to pay $75,000 in civil penalties, $25,000 of which will be suspended for two years if the company does not violate the state’s clean air law and regulations again.
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