In Denver, Colorado, a federal grand jury has charged James Robert Soyars Jr. with nine counts of violating the Clean Air Act in regard to asbestos handling surrounding work performed by his asbestos remediation firm, Talon Environmental Inc., located at 17792 E. Bails Place in the eastern suburb of Aurora.

The charges state that, between April 22 and August 28 of 2006, Soyars (through his company, Talon Environmental) removed asbestos from three sites and housed it in a storage facility in Denver instead of properly disposing of it per National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) regulations, which are emissions standards that also contain regulations for disposing of asbestos removed during demolition or remodeling.

Instead of following these regulations, Soyars' company, Talon, removed asbestos from the Transamerica Title Company at 121 E. Vermijo Ave, Colorado Springs; a bowling alley in Greeley (Colorado); and a Mazda dealership in Aurora, and then stored it in a rental storage facility.

The indictment, filed on Feb. 10 in U.S. District Court, cites Soyars for three counts each of failing to dispose of asbestos residue as quickly as possible, failing to label containers as hazardous waste, and failing to mark the vehicles used to take the asbestos waste to the storage unit.

If convicted, Soyars could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Those inadvertently exposed to asbestos fibers as a result of his reported failure to follow NESHAP regulations could be facing incurable disease and a painful death.