Asbestos-covered pipes. Photo courtesy Daryl Mitchell / CC-BY-SA 2.0

A Brockton company specializing in asbestos remediation is expected to shut down after repeatedly exposing construction workers to asbestos.

The attorney general’s office brought a lawsuit against Enviro-Safe Engineering after a 2020 demolition project on the site of a former Catholic church to make way for a senior housing development at 801 Broadway in Everett, being developed by The Neighborhood Developers nonprofit, caused a release of cancer-causing asbestos.

“Contractors who work with asbestos have an obligation to abide by our state’s critical workplace safety regulations and environmental laws,” Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement. “This company repeatedly put the health and safety of its workers and the public at risk with their reckless and dangerous work practices, and today’s settlement stops them from doing it again.”

The attorney general’s office’s lawsuit against Enviro-Safe claims the asbestos consulting company violated the state’s Clean Air Act and asbestos regulations when they failed to properly inspect the Everett building site. As a result, the AG’s office said, asbestos was released into the air during demolition, putting the health of construction workers and neighbors at risk.

Asbestos is a mineral fiber that was once commonly used in many materials used for building and is often present in older buildings. If it is improperly handled it can release toxic fibers that if inhaled may result in life-threatening illnesses.

Enviro-Safe will also pay $165,000 in penalties and retrain their employees. This came after a 2020 settlement set by the Attorney General’s office where Enviro-Safe had to pay $10,000 in civil penalties for illegal asbestos work in an environmental justice neighborhood in Rockland.