Punishment handed down after Massachusetts company conducted illegal asbestos abatement operations across Bristol, Essex, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties

FALL RIVER — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office today announced that Thomas J. McCoog, Sr. and Franklin Analytical Services, Inc., an environmental cleanup contractor, pled guilty to reckless assault and battery causing serious bodily injury after an asbestos abatement worker fell 30 feet to a concrete floor while working without fall protection at the former Revere Copper factory in New Bedford in October 2022. 

McCoog, Amy Franklin McCoog, and the company also pled guilty to an additional 96 counts of violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act by conducting illegal asbestos abatement operations across Bristol, Essex, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties between 2021 and 2022. The locations of the environmental offenses were Dartmouth Middle School, a Dartmouth Taekwondo studio, industrial sites in New Bedford, Fall River, and North Andover, waste transfer stations in Taunton and Stoughton, and numerous towns along Route 24.     

“Franklin Analytical Services’ reckless disregard for its workers’ safety led to one of their employees sustaining permanent, life-altering injuries,”said AG Campbell. “While no court order could ever undo the damage caused, I am grateful for the court’s decision to hold this company and its owners accountable, especially by prohibiting them from doing asbestos abatement work in the Commonwealth.” 

“Illegal transport and improper disposal of asbestos materials is a serious risk to public health and the environment,” said MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. “Through close collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Environmental Crimes Strike Force, we remain vigilant in holding violators accountable and ensuring asbestos regulations are strictly enforced to protect workers and our communities.” 

Justice Raffi Yessayan fined the defendants $293,750 and sentenced them to two years of probation, barring them from conducting asbestos abatement work in Massachusetts and requiring them to take certain safety measures to prevent injury to workers in other forms of construction work.  

Asbestos is a hazardous material and known human carcinogen regulated under the Clean Air Act. It is used as fireproofing in a wide variety of building materials, from roofing and flooring, to siding and wallboard, to caulking and insulation and is especially prevalent in older construction. If asbestos is improperly handled or maintained, fibers can be released into the air and inhaled, devastating the lungs, causing scarring, malfunction and potentially life-threatening illnesses, including asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma. Once disturbed, asbestos fibers can remain airborne, and therefore breathable for up to 72 hours. Because of the serious health risks associated with asbestos, there is no safe level of exposure.    

The convictions are the result of an investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Crimes Strike Force (ECSF), an interagency unit that includes prosecutors from the AG’s Office, Environmental Police Officers assigned to the AG’s Office, and investigators and engineers from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).  

Deputy Chief David Wittenberg of ECSF represented the Commonwealth in the prosecution, with the assistance of the Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP), MassDEP, and the Department of Labor Standards (DLS). The AGO’s Fair Labor Division, including Assistant Attorney General Amy Goyer and investigator Greg Reutlinger, also assisted ECSF in its investigation.