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The United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners of America was fined $4,200 by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for falsely claiming that
its Las Vegas training facility was certified to teach lead-based
paint removal. The $22-million, 176,289-sq-ft center opened
in March 2001 and certifies union instructors in general carpentry
and construction skills to educate its 525,000 rank-and-file
members. President Bush, who toured the center last year during
his re-election campaign, called the carpenters’ apprenticeship
program, "a program that works."
In December, EPA cited the union
for claiming its program had been EPA-accredited. It had trained
15 students and issued three student certificates in how to
handle lead-based paint materials. Such training requires
a facility accreditation from EPA.
The union claims that it was a
one-time mix-up, resulting from a secretarial error. Certification
language was mistakenly used from another EPA program on asbestos
removal. The carpenters will now outsource all future lead-based
paint removal certifications. EPA considers the violation
corrected provided that the fine is paid by the end of the
month. The complaint came after an inspection by EPA’s
regional office in Seattle.
"It was a clerical error,"
says Monte L. Byers, the carpenters’ chief of staff.
"We were wrong. We will pay the fine."
The union has a $100-million annual
training budget, with 1,500 full-time instructors and 250
centers across North America. Carpenters have performed 5,000
lead-based paint removal certifications since 1995, says William
K. Irwin, executive director of the union’s international
training fund.
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