SWEET HOME - Plastic wrap covers four piles of rubble on former mill property in Sweet Home. Nearby, a few ragged pieces of tape bearing the words "Danger: Asbestos" flutter in the wind.

The same scene has greeted passersby on Tamarack Street for the month following Eugene developer Dan Desler's arrest.

Desler was arraigned May 27 on felony air pollution charges, allegedly for causing asbestos to be released into the air when doing demolition work on the property. He will have a pretrial hearing Aug. 3.

Dan Heister of the Environmental Protection Agency had said EPA crews were going to start cleaning up the site in June. But earlier this week, he said that work will have to be delayed.

"We've had to push back the date to August on the action because of the criminal implications of the case and issues on evidence," he said. "The lawyers are working together to figure out how the removal can move ahead."

In the meantime, Heister said, the EPA has done some "stabilization work," involving covering the areas where the largest amount of asbestos-containing material is thought to be. That's to safeguard the site while the court system moves ahead, he said.

"I'm hoping that the issues can get resolved by August and we decide whether Mr. Desler has the funding to do it, or whether we go ahead and use government money to move ahead with the cleanup," Heister said.

The mill property is among approximately 420 acres Desler purchased in Sweet Home with a dream of establishing an ecologically-friendly resort.

Demolition crews worked on the mill site between May 2007 and February 2008. When workers found material they believed to contain asbestos, they stopped the teardown.

Desler now faces seven counts of first-degree air pollution, three counts of second-degree air pollution, supplying false information and recklessly endangering another in connection with the work.

He is accused of causing asbestos to be released by authorizing the work, by 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 workers to be exposed to "a substantial risk of serious physical injury."

Desler told the Democrat-Herald he is innocent and is still committed to his dream development.