A 61-year-old contractor from Algona who was also a housing inspector has been sentenced to probation for putting workers at risk of exposure to asbestos.
Steven Weaver bought the former Kossuth County Home in Algona in 2013, with plans to turn it into an apartment building. An EPA agent searched the property in 2014 and determined there was asbestos on some piping. The agent told Weaver to notify the state about the asbestos. Federal officials say Weaver failed to do so, and workers who were not trained to remove asbestos removed the material.
The federal judge who sentenced Weaver to probation also ordered Weaver to pay a $10,000 fine and pay about $1500 to cover the costs of his prosecution.