"They made a grave mistake," town supervisor Leonard Distel said regarding the botched asbestos abatement project that's become evident of late at Imperial Schrade, the former knife factory in Wawarsing.

A contractor employed by current owners of the former factory, Ellenville Development Partners located in New York City, applied for a NYS Department of Labor permit to remove asbestos from the building, including the exterior transite siding. That permit was granted, but according to town building inspector Bryant Arms, the owners did not follow through with obtaining a permit from the town.

The building department imposed a stop work order on the project December 1, then the Department of Labor followed suit on December 2.

The stop work orders were placed, Distel said, because the contractors were not following proper asbestos abatement procedures. Additionally, they were not following NY Municipal Home Rule law that requires a permit from the authority having jurisdiction, which is the town.

The owners have until December 17 to agree to a solution. They can either halt asbestos abatement and repair the damage done, continue with the abatement and repair damages, or demolish the building, Arms explained, before potentially facing court actions and fines upwards of $2,000 per day.

Regardless of which path the owners choose a permit is required.

Under section 42-4(A) of town code, a building permit is required for any work which must conform to the Uniform Code and/or the Energy Code. Similarly, a permit is required under Section 112-60 (A) which states that "no person shall construct, erect, alter, convert or use any building or structure, or part thereof, nor change the use of any land, subsequent to the adoption of this chapter, until a building permit and/or certificate of occupancy has been issued by the building inspector."

Currently, the building department has issued the owner a compliance order. The order is to repair the building and to clean up the hazards created by their improper implementation of asbestos abatement procedures. The caveat, however, is that work cannot be done on the site until a Department of Labor permit is issued.

"Work has been suspended at the Schrade building in Wawarsing," was all Brian Keegan, spokesperson, for the state department, would say. "The department will have no further comment as this is an on-going investigation."

While repeated calls to the owner netted no response, Distel suggested their eventual plan may include taking the building down, noting past difficulties in selling the property as a reason and high property taxes as another.

According to town assessor Michael Sommer, the tax rate on the former factory stands at $122,000, which includes the whole gamut of taxes — town, county, school fire and other district taxes. If the owner chose to demolish the building, Sommer added, they would probably only be responsible for a third of that... or $40,000.

If demolished before March 1, the property would be listed as vacant land and the first effects of revenue loss felt during the September school bill. The only thing that can make up that kind of loss, Sommer continued, was to build up more taxable value in the township.

Obtaining a town-issued demolition permit may be nearly impossible, though.

According to the building department, such a permit will not be issued unless the land was made ready for redevelopment.

"We don't want that site to become a proverbial brownfield, which could create a permanent hole in the community's tax base," Arms said.

The building wouldn't be considered completely demolished, either, until the former use and structure are out of the way. And for now, the structure is still usable within the defined limits of its intended use; and it may be better, as some have surmised, to preserve the building for another use than incompletely tear it down.

"They'll have a tough time getting the permits," Distel said. "The Department of Labor is a tough cookie."