AG Sues Construction Firm Over Unsafe Asbestos Work In Braintree

BRAINTREE, MA — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey filed a lawsuit against an Everett company she said conducted unsafe and illegal asebetsos work on water mains in Braintree and Everette.

According to Healey's office, Braintree and Everett officials hired GTA Co, Inc. to complete water main replacement projects. The complaint, filed Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court accuses GTA and company President Gregory Antonelli of removing and demolishing municipal water pipes containing asbestos without complying with required asbestos work regulations.

GTA and Antonelli also left asbestos-contaminated debris on the ground and in open dumpsters along Cabot and Marlboro Streets in Everett and along Sheppard Avenue in Braintree, according to the complaint. Healey's office said the company also crushed and buried asbestos-contaminated debris along Sheppard Avenue.

The lawsuit further alleges that GTA and Antonelli violated the state’s False Claims Act, by lying to Braintree town officials about its compliance with environmental and contractual requirements.

And along with the construction company, the Attorney General's Office said it's also suing two companies that worked with GTA Co. EZ Disposal Service, Inc., of Revere, and EZ Disposal & Recycling, LLC, of Boston, transported the asbestos waste and illegally stored it at their Revere facility, the complaint read.

"We allege that these defendants put the health of the public and their workers at risk by conducting illegal and unsafe asbestos work in the middle of city streets, including in environmental justice communities that already bear disproportionate environmental risks," Healey said in a statement. "We will hold accountable people and companies who violate the laws intended to protect the public from this dangerous material."