DC Health Official Guilty in Asbestos Extortion Case

WASHINGTON, DC, May 10, 2004 (ENS) - A former asbestos inspector with the District of Columbia Department of Health has been convicted of bribery and extortion charges for demanding and taking money to relax environmental asbestos rules.

A federal jury has convicted Jeffrey DeWhite Edwards of Bristow, Virginia on May 4 for demanding and receiving $10,000 in exchange for relaxing the environmental protection standards during the removal of asbestos at the Benning Road Solid Waste Transfer Facility in Northeast Washington.

Edwards faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. He will be sentenced on August 4, 2004 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the actual sentence will probably be between two and four years in prison.

The government proved during the trial that, in November 2002, the District of Columbia government sought bidders to demolish certain incinerators at the Benning Road dump, with the demolition requiring asbestos abatement and removal according to guidelines promulgated by the federal EPA and District of Columbia government.

As an air quality and asbestos regulator for the District, Edwards was required to review and approve the asbestos abatement plan to be used.

The District's initial request for proposals did not spell out to bidders whether the District would require the asbestos removal to be conducted under rigid standards applicable to friable asbestos, which can become pulverized and released into the air, or the somewhat laxer standards applicable to non-friable asbestos, which cannot become a powder and cannot be released into the air.

The evidence showed that the winning bidder, Keystone Plus Construction, hired a consultant to persuade Edwards to allow the asbestos removal to be conducted under the less stringent, non-friable procedures, which were less costly than those for friable asbestos.

At trial, the government proved that Edwards offered to permit Keystone to remove the asbestos as non-friable if he was paid $10,000.

In addition, Edwards was aware that Keystone's sister company, Keystone Environmental Services, had previously pled guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to making false statements to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in connection with the qualifications of certain employees to handle hazardous substances.

According to the government's evidence, Edwards sought the $10,000 in part by threatening to recommend that Keystone be barred from doing business with the District of Columbia government because of that conviction.

After Edwards demanded the $10,000 cash, Keystone's consultant, who was never suspected of engaging in wrongdoing, agreed to record conversations with Edwards. On February 13, 2003, Edwards was arrested at the consultant's office after accepting $10,000 in cash secretly provided by the FBI.