01/25/10 Bend

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined Rubenstein's Contract Carpet LLC, a Eugene-based commercial flooring contractor with offices throughout Oregon and Washington, $1,800 for allowing unlicensed persons to perform an asbestos abatement project at Bend Senior High School last September.

 DEQ reported that on Sept. 3. 2009, Rubenstein's subcontractors used scrapers and putty knives to remove 20 square feet of asbestos-containing floor tile at Bend Senior High School, 230 NE Sixth St. in Bend. Neither Rubinstein's nor its subcontractors were certified or licensed by DEQ to perform asbestos abatement projects.

The subcontractors broke up the asbestos-containing flooring materials and did not comply with applicable asbestos regulations. This had the potential to cause a release of asbestos fibers to the atmosphere. Asbestos fibers are a respiratory hazard proven to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis, and asbestos is a danger to public health and a hazardous air contaminant for which there is no known safe level of exposure.

 In addition to assessing the penalty for unlicensed asbestos work, DEQ cited Rubinstein's for openly accumulating asbestos-containing waste. The subcontractors had improperly packaged and labeled the asbestos waste and allowed it to be disposed of in a garbage bin outside the high school. DEQ did not issue a penalty for this violation.

Rubenstein's Contract Carpet LLC appealed the penalty in late December.