United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

ASBESTOS REMEDIATION TRAINER ADMITS VIOLATING FEDERAL TOXIC SUBSTANCE CONTROL ACT

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JOHN V. BRUCE, 39, of Meriden, pleaded guilty yesterday, October 19, before United States Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport to one count of violating the Toxic Substance Control Act.

According to court documents and statements made in court, the Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”) is one of several environmental statutes administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) that regulate asbestos.  TSCA requires, among other things, the accreditation of persons who perform certain types of asbestos removal work in schools and public and commercial buildings.  In order to create a uniform accreditation program, TSCA requires that EPA develop a Model Accreditation Plan (MAP), and that states adopt training and accreditation programs at least as stringent as EPA’s MAP.  Once a state program is approved, the state is authorized to accredit asbestos workers in that state.  In accordance with TSCA, the State of Connecticut has developed an asbestos accreditation program that has been fully approved by EPA since July 3, 1995.

BRUCE owned and operated Environmental Training and Consulting, Inc.  (“ETCI”) of Vernon and Wallingford, which performed post asbestos remedial clearance monitoring and also provided requisite training to individuals seeking to be certified to engage in asbestos remediation work.  On March 24, 1998, the Connecticut Department of Health granted BRUCE and ECTI with a certification to deliver asbestos worker, asbestos supervisor, asbestos management planner and asbestos project designer training.  BRUCE and ECTI’s license from the Connecticut Department of Health to give asbestos training terminated on January 1, 2003.

In pleading guilty, BRUCE admitted that, in May 2004, he sold, for $400, a certificate for a  four-day, 32-hour asbestos worker training course to an individual who never enrolled in the course.  The certificate bears a course completion date of December 19, 2002 and is signed by BRUCE.  The individual had only entered the United States from Honduras two weeks prior to obtaining the falsified certificate.

BRUCE is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7, 2010, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of one year and a fine of up to $100,000.

This matter was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Environmental Protection Agency.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Eric J. Glover and Special Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Lauterback.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov