The 60 Shrewsbury Street Nominee Trust of Worcester and 7 Nana Steak House Inc. of Lowell have agreed to jointly pay a $24,000 penalty to the commonwealth for violations of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (MassDEP) asbestos regulations.

MassDEP personnel determined asbestos-containing insulation was improperly removed, handled and stored during the renovation at 60 Shrewsbury St. in Worcester last January. Upon discovery, MassDEP required the parties to immediately retain the services of a Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards-licensed asbestos contractor to properly handle, package and dispose of all the asbestos waste, and to decontaminate all affected areas of the property.

The parties were cited and penalized for failing to notify MassDEP of a demolition/renovation operation involving asbestos-containing materials, and for the improper removal, handling, packaging, labeling and storage of asbestos-containing waste materials.

Under the terms of the negotiated settlement, MassDEP assessed a $37,625 penalty, and agreed to suspend $13,625 of the penalty amount provided that the parties have no further violations for one year.

"Owners and contractors involved with building renovation work must be fully aware of their responsibilities under the regulations to properly deal with asbestos-containing materials," Lee Dillard Adams, director of MassDEP’s Worcester office, said in a statement. "Failure to notify MassDEP of asbestos removal, and to follow prescribed work practices is an extremely serious, and ultimately a costly oversight that potentially exposes workers, tenants and the general public to a known carcinogen. As this case illustrates, noncompliance with the asbestos regulations will result in significant penalty exposure, as well as escalated cleanup, decontamination, disposal and monitoring costs."