U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on Friday sentenced Wolfgang “Tito” Roempke, 73, owner of Auburn Valley Cars to 30 days in prison, three years of supervised release, a $50,000 fine and a $50,000 community service payment for failing to properly remove asbestos – a felony violation of the Clean Air Act — before his employees demolished a building two years ago.

That building was the “Old Town and Country Diner” on Auburn Way North, which Roempke razed in late August and early September 2008 to further his business expansion plans.

Coughenour said he imposed the sentence to send “a message to the public that environmental crimes will result in jail time.”

Roempke was indicted last March in connection with the illegal removal and disposal of regulated asbestos-containing materials during the demolition. He pleaded guilty in October, admitting he ignored an assessment that asbestos had to be safely removed from the building before demolition. Instead, he had two workers from his car dealership tear down the building with no safeguards to contain and properly dispose of the asbestos.

“Asbestos exposure can cause cancer and other serious respiratory diseases,” said Tyler Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge for EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement in Seattle. “In this case, Mr. Roempke avoided hiring professionals, did the work ‘on the cheap’ and willfully put others at risk. If you cut corners on asbestos removal to save money, we will pursue and prosecute you.”

According to the plea agreement, Roempke will pay a $50,000 criminal fine, and a $50,000 community service payment to the National Environmental Education Foundation, a Congressionally mandated foundation set up for and dedicated to advancing environmental education.

According to the plea agreement, in May 2008, Roempke hired a certified inspector to collect 80 samples throughout the building of suspected asbestos-containing materials. In June, the inspector handed his report to Roempke, revealing widespread contamination.

The report listed 10 different types of building materials that contained asbestos above the regulatory threshold, including: acoustical popcorn ceiling texture; 12-inch ceiling tile mastic; orange peel-textured gypsum wallboard system; exterior window glaze; built-up roofing, vent sealant; wall paneling mastic; troweled-on textured gypsum wallboard; floor tile; and wall paneling mastic. The materials contained between 2-percent and 10-percent asbestos.

Roempke then solicited bids from two different companies to remove the asbestos. Both bids came in at about $20,000. Believing those costs to be too high, Roempke chose instead to hire Michael Neureiter to find a second inspector to reassess the building.

In mid-July 2008, Neureiter contacted Bruce Thoreen and asked him to conduct an asbestos survey of the facility. He instructed Thoreen to conduct the survey in such a way as to minimize the amount of asbestos contamination. Thoreen, a certified asbestos building inspector, was authorized to prepare the required survey. He inspected the building and produced a written report falsely reporting that the building contained no regulated asbestos-containing materials.

In August 2008, Neureiter removed salvage materials from the building but did not remove any asbestos containing materials.

In late August 2008, employees of Roempke’s car dealership used heavy equipment to demolish the building. Roempke did not disclose to the employees that regulated asbestos containing materials were present in the building at the time of demolition. He did not follow the prescribed work practice standards applicable to removing, packaging, transporting and disposing of the regulated asbestos containing material. The demolition debris was handled as ordinary construction debris.

Neureiter was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and three years of supervised release. In October 2010 Thoreen received a probationary sentence.

The Environmental Protection Agency Office of Criminal Enforcement investigated with help from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Assistant United States Attorneys Jim Oesterle and Katheryn Frierson prosecuted the case.