| manresa.jpg STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - With asbestos problems spreading at the Mount Manresa site, the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Thursday said it will investigate the Staten Island engineer who only months ago signed off on paperwork saying that six historic buildings slated for demolition at the site were free of asbestos. It's not the first time that the engineer, Gaspare Santoro, has run afoul of a regulatory agency. He was placed on two years' probation in a 2004 disciplinary action, according to records. The Buildings Department on Thursday said that DEP inspectors had found asbestos in two of the buildings at Mount Manresa so far. The presence of airborne asbestos in the first of those buildings was reported over the weekend. A stop-work order has been issued for the whole site, and DEP inspectors are now testing all the structures for asbestos. DEP has said that that the air was safe. It is not clear which buildings were found to contain asbestos, or when results from the asbestos tests would be complete. The DEP said Santoro filed paperwork in April saying that each of six buildings on the Manresa site, which are slated for demolition to make way for a townhouse development by Savo Brothers, were "free of asbestos containing material." The DEP told the Advance that it's possible that Santoro, hired by the... |
