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Mar 22 2007 Everett Blatche, a 44 year old Syracuse contractor who had been charged with
improper disposal of mortal material asbestos and allowing them to drain into
public sewers, admitted guilty on Tuesday in federal court. He was in charge of
asbestos removal at the former Agway building in DeWitt.
Blatche is the father of Andray Blatche, an NBA player for the Washington
Wizards and a former Henninger High School basketball star. He is now facing up
to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced Aug. 21
for violating the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and Superfund law.
Prosecutors said it could change though no one else connected to the botched
cleanup had been charged.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Benedict said that Blatche was willing to
cooperate. "We will see where that leads," he said.
Blatche was a supervisor with 22 years of experience at Aapex Environmental
Services. He oversaw asbestos removal at the former Agway building at 333
Butternut Drive, next to ShoppingTown Mall before his arrest in November.
Business records say that Aapex, at 4682 Crossroads Park Drive, Clay, is owned
by William Hickok, Bob Leathley and John Leathley. Aapex crews had worked for
several months to clean up the carcinogenic material from the vacant
223,000-square-foot building. The offenses took place from June 8 to Nov. 7.
"Workers released lots and lots of asbestos outside without telling anybody
about it. Mr. Blatche was aware that what he was doing was highly improper, but
he continued to do it and instructed others to do it," Benedict said.
Defense lawyer Lisa Peebles said that Everett Blatche had no comments. "I think
he just wants to put it behind him. He's looking forward to getting on with his
life," she said.
Benedict said that under a far stricter supervision than is normally required,
workers continue to remove asbestos from the building. The work at the site is
now monitored by an independent consultant who reports to the building's owners.
A strict oversight has been imposed by the labor officials as well.
The building is being converted into office space now. It was slated to reopen
April 1 however, it has been pushed back to the end of summer now. Owners of the
former Agway building also hope to move on.
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