OSHA has proposed $110,000 in penalties for American Electric Power Company, Inc. and its subsidiary Appalachian Power Company, alleging safety and health violations involving asbestos at the Phillip Sporn generating plant in New Haven, West Virginia.

OSHA initiated its inspection on February 24, 2005 in response to a complaint alleging that Fluor Maintenance Service, a contractor performing boiler repair services for Appalachian Power Company, exposed its employees to asbestos at the New Haven worksite. The investigation yielded two willful citations, with a penalty of $110,000.

"Appalachian Power Company did not notify Fluor Maintenance Service of the confirmed presence of asbestos despite knowing that the contractor's employees were going to work on the area in question," says Stan Elliott, area director of OSHA's Charleston office. "This was in direct conflict with the company's written asbestos program."

OSHA alleges the company failed to determine the presence of asbestos prior to a contactor beginning work and failed to communicate the results of asbestos samples prior to work commencing that resulted in potential exposure.

The agency also cited Fluor Maintenance Service for one alleged serious violation due to its failure to require employees potentially exposed to asbestos to decontaminate their clothing. OSHA fined the company $1,875.

American Electric Power (AEP) is an energy production and distribution company. Appalachian Power Company, one of seven regional utility companies owned by American Electric Power, has electrical generation facilities in Virginia and West Virginia that employ several hundred workers.

Each company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

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