Union leaders and a clergy group in Newark said that asbestos removal at the Pabst brewery was not being done properly and the site was not secure.
The plant, a large complex on 10 acres in the city's West Ward, is being razed by T. Fiore Recycling Corp., a Newark general contractor.
Demolition on the Grove Street side of the plant -- site of the giant rooftop beer bottle -- began this month, but labor and clergy leaders believe the property may not have been properly cleared of asbestos beforehand.
An owner of New West, a company developing the brewery site into 179 housing units and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, said asbestos removal has been supervised by the state Department of Labor.
Pedro Ortiz, one of the owners of the Newark company, said the union is complaining because the demolition work is being done by a private contractor and not union members.
Labor department officials confirmed that Fiore properly cleared asbestos from the building before demolition began earlier this month.
"We've been on the case since February of this year," said Robert Corrales, spokesman for the state agency.
Edward Osborne, business agent of Local 1153 for the Essex County Building and General Laborers' Union, said he was raised in the neighborhood and his objection has more to do with the potential for the cleanup jeopardizing the health of residents.
"We know they are not going to sign up the union for work," he said. "This is about them tearing it down right."
Osborne questioned the removal work, because his members have seen workers from subcontractor Drina Construction, a Garfield-based company, disposing of what they believe is asbestos material from an adjacent building at the brewery complex.
To demonstrate that that site is not asbestos-free, Osborne said, some of his members, who wore protective suits, retrieved asbestos material from a steam pipe and a tank.
The workers arranged for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund -- part of their union -- to have the material tested by Omega Laboratories, an environmental service company in Hackensack.
According to the report from the company, material from the pipe and tank contained asbestos.
Sandra Gilchrease, a resident and assistant chairwoman of the Neighborhood Square Block Association, said Peter Alvarez, a compliance officer with the state Department of Labor, was shown a copy of the video of Drina construction workers throwing asbestos out a window.
"Our concern has always been how that stuff was going to be taken out," she said.
Corrales said the department would be looking into whether asbestos was being discarded through the window.
Ortiz said the second building is phase two of the project and it more than likely contains asbestos. However, he said workers have not removed any of the material from the property. He said there are squatters in the building and people looting it for steel. He said security will be provided when no one is on the site.
Jethro C. James Jr., president of the Newark North Jersey Committee of Black Churchmen, said the community and clergy want new development, but not at the expense of public health.
"It ought to be a job that's done safely," he said. "The area is unsecured so any child can go in there and do whatever. We want development in our community, but at what cost?"
Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith said the site does need better security, based on what he's seen from a videotape of a man walking through the property. Smith expressed concern, because part of the plant is located in his township.
Since the brewery closed in 1986, the complex of 24 buildings has been an eyesore and home to squatters, drug users and drug dealers. Newark (New Jersey) Star Ledger