An Illinois contractor has been indicted by a federal grand jury for improper asbestos removal at a demolition site.

Joseph J. C. IV is charged with illegal and unsafe asbestos removal in violation of the Clean Air Act, and with making false statements during a related hearing in Illinois state court.

Joseph could face up to five years in prison for each count in the indictment, plus up to $250,000 in fines.

According to the indictment, Joseph had an untrained worker perform asbestos removal at the site of an old Pillsbury Mills-Cargill plant in Springfield, Il.

It alleges that from October 2014 to August 2015, asbestos-based insulation was cut and stripped away from pipes in four buildings at the site. This insulation was allegedly stuffed into at least 300 garbage bags and at least two open-top cardboard boxes and left inside vacant buildings on the site.

Joseph is also accused of allowing demolition of a building to take place with over 1,000 linear feet of asbestos-laden pipe insulation still inside, according to the indictment.

The unauthorized asbestos removal left dry pieces of asbestos-containing material strewn over several floors of the facility and the ground outside it, the indictment says. It also alleges that asbestos removal at the site allegedly generated a large amount of asbestos-laden dust.

The indictment also accuses Joseph of making false statements under oath during a civil action over the same issues. Allegedly, Joseph had told a court he did not know who did the demolition work at the site, when in fact he had personally participated in the work and solicited others to participate.

He also allegedly said someone other than himself had supervised a worker at the site, when in fact he had hired and directed that person’s activity himself.

The civil action began in August 2015, when state enforcement agents at the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency were tipped off to the operation by a former worker who had worked on the project. The agency responded two days later by inspecting the site.

About a week later, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office had filed suit against Joseph, securing a court order that temporarily halted the project. Two months after that order, Joseph was found in contempt of court for failing to post required signage at the site and for failing to hire a designer to come up with a proper remediation plan.

USDOJ: Asbestos Removal Must Meet EPA Requirements

As the indictment notes, asbestos exposure can lead to a number of deadly diseases like mesothelioma or lung cancer. Mesothelioma is a cancer of the double-layered membrane that surrounds the lungs. It’s generally fatal within one to four years from the date of diagnosis.

Within the United States, asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma.

A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice notes that the federal EPA has promulgated rules under the Clean Air Act that govern asbestos removal, handling and disposal.

Owners and operators in charge of demolition projects that involve removal of asbestos-based materials must comply with these regulations, the press release says.