LANSING – Agents with the Environmental Protection Agency's criminal unit are investigating potential asbestos disposal violations at the site of the former Michigan School of the Blind, according to the Ingham County Land Bank and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The agents, some wearing head-to-toe hazmat suits, showed up early Tuesday at the site in north Lansing, about six blocks east of the Old Town commercial district.

Sources told MLive they are investigating potential violations by Lansing contractor MAC Contracting, LLC. Officials at MAC Contracting could not be reached for comment by phone, and no one would talk about the issue during a visit to the business at 1408 Lake Lansing Road.

Bob McAnallen is listed as the registered agent for MAC on incorporation papers filed with the state.

The Ingham County Land Bank, which owns the section of the complex being investigated, hired MAC to remove asbestos from buildings it's demolishing on the complex's perimeter, which is at the corner of Willow and Princeton streets.

Land Bank executive director Jeff Burdick said it has suspended its contract with MAC pending results of the federal investigation.

"[The EPA] was out there collecting evidence yesterday for a criminal investigation related to unsafe practices in how asbestos is removed by employees," Burdick confirmed, adding once he heard about the investigation yesterday, he immediately went to the site to talk to EPA officials.

"They said that they received allegations from [MAC] employees and they are collecting samples and they had a warrant in which to investigate," he said.

The EPA declined to comment, citing that it is an ongoing investigation.

The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) confirmed they too are conducting an inspection "of a Michigan licensed asbestos abatement contractor MAC Contracting, LLC at the former Michigan School for the Blind," said Andrea Miller, a MIOSHA spokeswoman.

She said the EPA and Department of Environmental Quality opened separate investigations on the site on April 2.

"In addition to inspecting MAC Contracting, MIOSHA also opened inspections of the two owners of the property, the Ingham County Land Bank and Preservation Non-Profit Housing Corporation," she said. "MIOSHA will probably complete the inspections in about two weeks."

Preservation, a subsidiary of the Great Lakes Capital Fund that invests in developments that revitalize neighborhoods, does not control the buildings involved in the investigation, but co-owns the site with the Land Bank.

The School for the Blind opened at the site in 1915. Its most famous alumnus is Motown legend and Saginaw native, Stevie Wonder. The school closed its doors for good in 1995.

The city acquired the campus from the state in 2005 and has restored two buildings, including the former library, home to the Greater Lansing Housing Commission since 2011, and the former Superintendents House, home to Rizzi Designs.

The area of the school that is under investigation is not connected to the $15 million upgrade scheduled to begin in 2015 for the former school's main building, the Abigail Building, announced on April 18. The demolition is a separate project.

"The main issue we have is time and we only have a certain amount of time on that grant to get that building removed," Burdick said. "So I'm trying to get information from the state on whether to extend that grant."

"There is asbestos; these are old buildings, and we're trying to get them removed," he added, stressing that these are only allegations. "Removal has to happen prior to demolition. I don't know what's true and what's not – and that's why the EPA is investigating – as to whether the asbestos is being removed properly and safely."

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