A legal notice sign at the 1700 block of Watkins Road at the site of the Standard Coosa Thatcher textile plant, advises residents who were affected by the unsafe removal of asbestos when the plant was demolished to seek legal council and attend court proceedings.
Federal prosecutors allege that businessmen and supervisors motivated by greed violated federal asbestos laws while demolishing a closed Chattanooga textile mill, then lied to cover up the violations.
“This case is about greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Morris told the jury during his opening statement Monday afternoon.
But the defendants’ attorneys place much of the blame for the illegal asbestos removal with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau.