SALEM — The state of Oregon has fined a Michigan company more than $24,000 for violating safety laws in an asbestos removal project last year at Candalaria Mall in south Salem.

A spokesman for the Department of Environmental Quality, Brian White, says the penalties against Performance Abatement Services of Melvindale were the result of an inspection in September.

He says the company has appealed.

DEQ alleges in a civil suit that the company committed willful violations, such as allowing the accumulation of asbestos debris and failing to keep ceiling tiles and vinyl flooring wet enough in the removal process.

— From wire reports