Former Cayuga County Chairman George Fearon was told that the lining around pipes in the basement of a county building probably contained asbestos, according to his testimony from a November 2007 hearing.

During a dismissal hearing for John Chick, Fearon said he talked to the former county employee about removing a boiler in the County Board of Elections building and replacing it with two smaller boilers and a hot water tank.

Chick had told Fearon that there was a “probability of asbestos” being in insulation material surrounding the pipes, according to Fearon's testimony.

The February 2006 exchange took place just before Chick illegally removed asbestos along with the boiler. The removal led to a federal investigation, and Chick - a county carpenter who oversaw the project - pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the federal Clean Air Act.

Though no other charges have been filed, Chick maintained throughout court proceedings that he was only following orders from his supervisors - Fearon and former Building and Grounds Superintendent Ernie DeCaro - when he removed the material.

Fearon denies that he had anything to do with the asbestos removal, and he

testified during a separate hearing in October that he was unaware asbestos was illegally removed until the investigation began in June.

However, Chick said Monday that Fearon's statement during the court proceedings conflict with the ones from the November hearing. This testimony is proof that he lied to federal prosecutors, Chick said.

“(Fearon) said he was never down there until June,” Chick said. “But he knew exactly what I was doing and how it was being done.”

Chick is waiting to serve a 15-month sentence in federal prison. He was scheduled to begin the sentence last week, but a federal judge granted a one-month extension so Chick can find a facility closer to his family.

Chick said Monday that he has “stepped up” and admitted his mistake. It is time for others to do the same, he added.

“I had orders to do my job, and he was one of the bosses,” Chick said of Fearon.

During the November hearing, Fearon testified that he went down to the basement of the elections office to look at the boiler, which was emitting high levels of carbon dioxide. He saw a material that looked like fiberglass, which Chick told him could contain asbestos, Fearon said.

According to Fearon's testimony, the conversation took only a few minutes. Chick contended otherwise, saying that he talked with Fearon for an hour or more.

Fearon described the dispute Monday as a matter of “he said, she said.” Yes, Chick told him of the probability of asbestos insulating the pipes. But he and other county officials understood that the project would involve cutting exposed pipe, not illegally removing hundreds of feet of pipe and asbestos, Fearon said.

“There was no concept that he was going to remove an insulated (pipe),” Fearon said. “To say we might have some asbestos somewhere is not some remarkable thing. The question is if someone is going to touch it.

“What I became aware of in June was the possibility of illegally removing asbestos,” Fearon continued Monday, “not the probability of there being some asbestos in some of the pipes.”

Fearon also maintained that the February 2006 conversation lasted only minutes.

“(Chick) can say whatever he wants to say,” Fearon said. “I didn't walk out of there looking at asbestos as being an issue.”

Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.