JOHNSTON — A local demolition company faces a $256,320 penalty for improperly dealing with asbestos at the site of the former Seaboard Foundry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday.

A co-owner of Bilray Demolition, David Santanelli, said the company’s response to asbestos was hampered by heavy snowfall at the site during the winter of 2004-05. It also took many months for the owner of the site at 61 John St. to approve a contract for asbestos removal, Santanelli said.

“They’re trying to say we prolonged removing asbestos from the job site,” he said. “How can we prolong it if we didn’t have permission from the owner to remove it?”

In a news release, the EPA accused Bilray of failing to inspect for asbestos prior to the demolition of the facility in the aftermath of a fire.

Bilray, the news release says, also failed to: provide the EPA with written notification of its intent to demolish; adequately wet asbestos during its stripping operations, keeping asbestos sufficiently wet until it was collected; and properly dispose of asbestos waste.

Bilray removed 81 cubic feet of material containing asbestos from the site in September 2005, according to the EPA.

The asbestos material wasn’t identified during a preliminary inspection of the site, Santanelli said. It surfaced during demolition in late 2004, he said.

Santanelli contested each of the EPA’s allegations.

Removal of the material was not part of the company’s contract with the site’s owner, Richard Macera, he said.

The material was put into a pile and, soon after, it was covered by snow, according to Santanelli. After that, the company waited for a consultant to come up with a plan for removing the asbestos. The company also needed direction from Macera, he said.

mreynold@projo.com