Three Certified Environmental Services employees are facing prison time and fines after being found guilty of fraudulent reports in connection with asbestos removal. Nicole Copeland, Elisa Dunn and Sandy Allen face sentencing on February 25, 2011 for conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act—the Environmental Protection Agency’s law to protect and improve the nation’s air.

The assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles, stated in response, “Falsifying asbestos reports and air quality data is a serious crime and undermines our nation’s efforts to protect human health and the environment.”

For almost a decade these CES employees hid data and falsified reports after the company allegedly removed asbestos materials from homes and buildings. While the reports claimed the materials had been reduced to within approved healthy limits, harmful asbestos dusts and fibers remained. Many families and individuals have been living and working at risk from exposure to the remaining dangers.

Asbestos causes several chronic and fatal conditions including cancers. Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer of the lung lining which is caused solely by asbestos fibers. Always fatal, mesothelioma claims nearly three thousand lives in the US each year. Although this cancer can take decades to show signs or symptoms, the prognosis is much shorter—often between six months and two years.

In a press statement, Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice said, “Because of the dishonest and illegal practices of this company, many people were left unaware for years of their possible exposure to asbestos.” He continues, “Companies and employees will be fully investigated and prosecuted when they put the public’s health at risk by violating environmental laws.”

Cynthia Giles says in her statement, “Exposure to asbestos can be fatal, and the conviction shows that the American people will not tolerate illegal activity that puts the public at risk of cancer and other serious respiratory diseases.”

CES faces a maximum fine of $17.5 million as well as compensation to all victims. Copeland and Dunn, senior managers at CES, face 110 years and $3 million and 40 years and $1.25 million, in maximum prison time and fines respectively. Allen faces a maximum of 50 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Two other asbestos removal companies, Aapex Environmental and Paragon Environmental previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the conspiracy with CES.

Diseases caused by asbestos exposure continue to reek physical and legal havoc internationally. Mesothelioma and other asbestos related illnesses claim thousands of lives each year in the US alone. Employment hazards are often the culprit. Two Texas families have recently brought charges against major oil companies for damages related to asbestos negligence, while thousands in the UK are in their fifth year of a similar suit.

Charles Arceneaux of Jefferson County, Texas reportedly died, “a painful and terrible death,” from asbestosis on August 8, 2010. Unlike the cancer mesothelioma, asbestosis is a chronic, non-cancerous lung disease. Arceneaux experienced continued exposure to harmful asbestos materials during his employment at a Texaco refinery, which allegedly led to his development of the disease. Arceneaux’s widow and children have brought charges against Texaco and Chevron, claiming the two oil giants knew the risks of exposure yet did nothing.

Everett and Cheryl Cannon of Galveston County, Texas have filed suit against BP North America, Inc. Everett was employed with Amoco (BP’s predecessor) for nine years, after which he developed lung cancer allegedly caused by work-related asbestos exposure. The Cannons claim the company knew about the presence of harmful asbestos materials without disclosing the risks to employees or providing adequate supervision to manage the risks.

Half-way around the world, some six thousand British families have been waiting more than five years for compensation in a related mesothelioma suit. Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive cancer of the lung lining. Mesothelioma is almost entirely caused by exposure to asbestos fibers, which can also cause lung cancer, asbestosis and other chronic and fatal diseases. Most patients diagnosed with mesothelioma are given a prognosis of six to eighteen months, a time period often shorter than the associated legal proceedings.

The big question in the UK case is whether damages provided should date back to the onset of symptoms or beginning of exposure. Victims and their families are claiming payment owed in accordance with the latter. As the British case drags out many widows of the mesothelioma victims fear they have lost all chance for payment. Insurance companies that once existed are now out of business and policies have been hard to qualify. A three hundred and sixty-six page judgment has caused additional setbacks, leaving attorneys confused with the complicated document.

The short prognosis for mesothelioma patients puts an agonizing pressure on the proceedings both in the US and the UK. The Arceneaux family is living what many hope to avoid–a fight for compensation after the alleged exposure has claimed the life of their loved one. Many of the victims still living are concerned with the well-being of their families after they are gone, wondering if the needed financial security will ever come through.