The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has agreed to a settlement with Dover Greens LLC, a real estate development and management company in Dover, N.Y.
In October 2013, Dover Greens employees and contractors performed cleanup operations in preparation for a tour of the site by potential investors. The work, which was directed and overseen by Dover Greens supervisors, never included intentionally removing asbestos and lead-contaminated debris, according to company officials. Dover Greens maintains that no construction or remediation efforts requiring permitting commenced during that time, and that none of its cosmetic-related activities could reasonably expose any worker to harmful levels of any hazardous substance.
Nevertheless, Dover Greens has settled with OSHA and has agreed to pay $700k as an investment to ensure future worker safety, including health and environmental awareness, for the restoration of the former State-owned facility.
At a time when national and local economies are still weak, Dover Greens wants the project to be a catalyst to revitalize the Eastern Dutchess County with community-wide consensus and collaboration. Dover Greens looks forward to continuing to work for the revitalization of its local community through this project’s efforts.
As executive power is routinely wielded to target and obstruct groups trying to make a positive impact in local communities, Dover Greens is encouraged that many of OSHA’s proposals for asbestos and lead exposure have been changed from “willful” to “not willful” citations, and nearly all of its asbestos-related citations were vacated altogether.
Dover Greens will remain committed to the workers’ safety and health as the project progresses.
