An industrial hazard case against Eugene developer Dan Desler involving property in Sweet Home will have a pretrial hearing Aug. 3 to give attorneys time to go through evidence.

Desler was arraigned Wednesday in Linn Circuit Court. He did not enter a plea, but spoke with the Democrat-Herald afterward on the charges and said he is innocent.

Desler has been charged with seven counts of first-degree air pollution, three counts of second-degree air pollution, supplying false information and recklessly endangering another in connection with demolition of old mill buildings on Tamarack Street in Sweet Home.

He is accused of causing asbestos to be released into the air by authorizing the work, of not using a licensed contractor, failing to perform required surveys, not informing the state Department of Environmental Quality of his project and allowing the demolition worker to be exposed to "a substantial risk of serious physical injury."

Work on the site took place between May 2007 and February 2008. It halted, Desler said, because his crews found material they believed to contain asbestos.

"The contractor said he suspected that material was there, and I told him to get off the machine and off the property," he said.

Work stopped "right then," he went on, "and we actually sealed the area off."

Desler said he hired an asbestos abatement contractor, but his line of credit fell through during the economic crash.

"We didn't have the finances to do the cleanup, but we did, with the best of intentions, begin the cleanup," he said.

Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency say they still plan to work this summer contain asbestos on the site starting next month.

Desler purchased approximately 420 acres in Sweet Home with a dream of establishing an ecologically-friendly resort.

Part of the plan was to gather shredded plastic, cardboard and sawdust on the 159-acre mill property and recycle it as fuel or animal bedding. That material, located on the same tax lot but about a quarter-mile from the demolished mill buidlings, is the subject of a separate Department of Environmental Quality complaint.

Desler said he hasn't given up his dream.

"I believe strongly about our goals and our master plan there, and I have not changed my commitment," he said. "I'm extremely disappointed in the way this was handled."