FALL RIVER A Fall River developer charged with illegally demolishing, handling, storing and disposing of asbestos at the former King Philip Mill has a hearing scheduled to change his plea, the Fall River Reporter reported Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The change-of-plea hearing for Robert G. Kfoury is set for Jan. 21, 2027, after a lobby conference Wednesday morning in Fall River Superior Court, according to the outlet. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The charges
The Attorney General's Office announced in 2024 that Kfoury was charged with 58 counts of violating the Massachusetts Clean Air Act and one count of violating the Massachusetts Solid Waste Management Act, the Fall River Reporter reported. The charges involve asbestos-containing material, asbestos-containing waste material and solid waste at the site of the former mill on Kilburn Street, according to the outlet.
A Bristol County grand jury indicted Kfoury on May 29, 2024, and he was arraigned before Judge Brian Glenny in Bristol County Superior Court on June 18, 2024, where he pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance, according to the outlet.
Kfoury, a property developer, demolished the former mill buildings to build single-family homes, the Fall River Reporter reported. The allegations cover conduct from the start of the demolition on May 29, 2018, through the discovery of buried asbestos-containing waste at the site when a court-authorized search warrant was carried out on Feb. 11, 2020, according to the outlet.
How asbestos work is regulated
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection requires builders to have a professional asbestos survey done before any demolition or renovation and to notify the department before working with asbestos-containing material, the Fall River Reporter reported. Builders must remove, wet, seal and otherwise contain the material to keep fibers out of the air, clean the site and equipment, and send the waste to a special landfill, according to the outlet.
Asbestos is a known human carcinogen, and fibers released into the air can be inhaled and cause illnesses including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, the Fall River Reporter reported.
Who is prosecuting
Assistant Attorney General David Wittenberg of Attorney General Campbell's Environmental Crimes Strike Force is prosecuting the case, with help from detectives with the Massachusetts Environmental Police and staff of the Department of Environmental Protection's Southeast Regional Office and its Environmental Strike Force, the Fall River Reporter reported.
What comes next
South Coast 360 will update this story with the court record and the January hearing.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The lobby conference, the change-of-plea hearing date and the case history come from the Fall River Reporter's Oct. 28 report, which also carries the Attorney General's Office's 2024 announcement of the charges, and they are credited to the outlet until we read the court record. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
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Sources (1)
- Fall River Reporter, "Fall River developer Robert Kfoury has change of plea hearing scheduled in asbestos case" (Oct. 28, 2026)The lobby conference Wednesday morning in Fall River Superior Court and the Jan. 21, 2027, change-of-plea hearing; the Attorney General's 2024 announcement of the charges, the indictment, the arraignment, the plea and release, the demolition and the search warrant, the MassDEP rules, the health risks and the prosecution team. Posted Oct. 28, 2026, 11:48 a.m. Read Oct. 28, 2026.