Post-Gazette Request To Open Health Dept Asbestos Proceeding Denied

"An Allegheny County Health Department hearing officer Tuesday denied a request to allow the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to attend a proceeding that was closed to the public at the request of Ramesh and Vikas Jain, who were appealing a $1.47 million fine for multiple violations of the county’s asbestos-removal regulations.

The fine — the largest asbestos-related fine ever levied by the department — was part of a June 2 enforcement order alleging that more than 130,000 square feet of asbestos floor tile and pipe insulation was illegally removed from multiple buildings on the former George Westinghouse Research and Technology Park corporate campus in Churchill.

The Jains, father and son, own the 135-acre property and are in the midst of a multimillion-dollar redevelopment project for which they have a $3.5 million state grant commitment. They have denied the allegations."

Don Hopey reports for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 29, 2017.