Apr 26

Former New York Player Charged With Asbestos Removal Violations

A former Buffalo Bills football player who operates an asbestos removal company faces federal charges of illegally handling asbestos in New York.

Sean P. Doctor of Buffalo, owner and operator of S. D. Specialty Services in Grand Island, N.Y., was charged with a felony violation of the federal Clean Air Act, according to the Buffalo News.

Asbestos was widely used in building materials through the 1970s. But asbestos exposure and breathing asbestos dust causes serious respiratory disease including mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung. So asbestos removal was done according to regulations and asbestos-containing material must be disposed of carefully.

Federal environmental investigators raided the office of S.D. Specialty Services on April 19 and found a significant amount of asbestos waste that had not been secured, labeled or disposed of properly. Investigators determined that the asbestos waste came from removal projects that Doctor had worked on, prosecutor Aaron J. Mango of the U.S. Attorney’s Office told the newspaper.

During a hearing in federal court on Friday, Mango said that New York work safety inspectors found that employees who worked for Doctor on a project in Watertown, N.Y., were not using required safety equipment to prevent exposure to asbestos fibers.

Doctor, a football star at Marshall University, was drafted by the Buffalo Bill in 1989. He was suspended for steroid use, then played briefly with the team before being cut during the 1990 season. Doctor was released on a nonfinancial bond and his attorney said he expected him to be cleared of charges.

Each year, approximately 3,000 Americans are diagnosed with mesothelioma, a signature cancer of asbestos exposure. Many mesothelioma sufferers worked in jobs including demolition and construction that exposed them to asbestos dust. Symptoms of mesothelioma may not appear for 30 to 40 years after exposure.