Free Zone operators and Free Zone managers are responsible for preventing the improper removal of goods.

Troy High School and district administrators were embroiled in a controversy surrounding the improper removal and handling of asbestos while school was in session.

The complaint says students and school personnel were exposed to asbestos fibers in the improper removal of 6,400 square feet of hallway flooring.

U.S. v. Wayne Insulation Company, alleging inadequate notice and improper removal of asbestos from a boiler room at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.

Section 510(f) makes the sender of an invalid claim liable for the damages resulting from the content's improper removal, including legal fees, but that remedy is not always practical.

For example, it must go through all of its tens of thousands of case files to look for evidence of improper removals.

But the legal services coordinator for Sanctuary for Families, Jill Zuccardy, said that as many as 1,500 cases a year fit Judge Weinstein's definition of an improper removal.

Children often eat sweet-tasting lead paint when it has chipped off walls, is covering surfaces they can reach or contaminates the environment after improper removal.

"Any improper removal of any property of any of our employees is serious enough for me to seek its return," Mr. Korn said.

That call served as a catalyst to regulators who immediately issued the subpoenas, which means any document destruction or improper removal would be considered destruction of evidence.