By KEIZERTIMES staff
An Oregon contractor has paid an $18,781 fine to the state after improperly handling asbestos material during a Keizer home repair a year ago, according to state records.
The family living in the North Ventura Street home had expected to be out of their home for about two weeks as bathroom repairs were made. Jennefer Marker’s family instead wasn’t able to return for nine months.
“It just snowballed and snowballed and snowballed,” Marker said in an interview recounting the experience.
The sour contractor experience was triggered by a water leak that damaged two bathrooms in the home a year ago, according to Marker and records from the state Department of Environmental Quality.
The family hired McGinnis Enterprises of Adair Village to do the repairs. The company, a licensed contractor since 2009, operates as Servpro West Salem, state records show.
According to a DEQ order issued Aug. 22, a McGinnis employee who is an accredited asbestos inspector surveyed asbestos-containing material at the Keizer home.
“Asbestos fibers are a respiratory hazard proven to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis,” the DEQ said in its notice to McGinnis. “Asbestos is a danger to public health and a hazardous air contaminant for which there is no known safe level of exposure.”
Marker said her two children use two bedrooms across the hall from one bathroom.
The family intended to leave the home for about two weeks after toilets were removed for the repair work.
According to the DEQ order, McGinnis worked on the bathrooms on Dec. 27 and Dec. 28, 2023, removing about 84 square feet of flooring and cabinetry that disturbed textured overspray on walls and floors.
Another company brought in to test for asbestos found the substance in bathroom flooring, surface textures and adhesive behind drywall, the DEQ order said.
The contractor’s handling of the material “had the potential to release asbestos fibers into the air.” The waste was put in the office dumpster at McGinnis and “later transported to a landfill.”
The DEQ order said McGinnis was not licensed for asbestos abatement projects, didn’t do a complete survey for asbestos and didn’t properly label the debris for disposal. The agency found that McGinnis was “reckless” because it “disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”
McGinnis was aware that “the homeowner’s family including children were living at the property during the renovation and that there was a risk of substantial harm to the residents if asbestos containing materials were mishandled,” the order said.
Nick McGinnis, company president, said in an email on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that his company had hired an abatement contractor for the Keizer job. He said he learned belatedly of the DEQ enforcement action.
“We never received the initial letter from the DEQ informing us of the civil penalty or the option to appeal. The only correspondence we received was a letter stating that the penalty must be paid,” he wrote.
The DEQ notified the company of the potential violations in a Feb. 26 letter, state records show.
Marker said the repair work wasn’t completed as expected by January.
She said she left her home unheated through the winter on the advice of DEQ officials, who said that the furnace use could spread the asbestos. As a result, seams in the ceiling cracked and 70% of it had to be replaced.
Marker said the process was long. The family stayed at motels and other lodging.
“We were living out of our car,” Marker said of the frequent moves.
She said “the great gals at Best Western in Keizer got to know us very well.”
The family returned to the home in September.
Asbestos was found in two bathrooms of a Keizer home after repairs started in December 2023. A contractor was fined by the state over the asbestos.
Jennefer Marker photo