WESTERLEIGH — Angry residents demanded the city halt work at Mount Manresa at Tuesday night's Community Board 1 meeting after construction crews were fined $67,000 for lying about asbestos.
With some residents worried for their health and others saying they've had medical problems since demolition started, advocates have asked the city to issue a full stop-work order.
"This isn't just hysteria," said Barbara Sanchez, of the group Save Mount Manresa, at the meeting. "We have two people that have medical problems due to the dust that has been put into their house."
Representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Buildings were on hand to answer residents' questions during the meeting. They told attendees there was most likely no danger of airborne asbestos from the demolition.
"It's highly unlikely that any dust or fibers migrated off that site," said Michael Gilsenan, assistant deputy commissioner for the DEP. "It's highly unlikely based on the amount of the material and where it was found."
Still, resident Jeanne Marsamillo said her neighbor had to be tested for asbestos since the demolition and she can't go into her bedroom because of the dust.
"Their dust is like soot," she said at the meeting. "You end up feeling lethargic, you don't have the energy. I have to stay out of my bedroom. It looks like a war zone."
This month the developer, contractor and asbestos investigator responsible for tearing down the former Jesuit retreat house got hit with notices of violations after they filed paperwork saying there was no trace of the material in their application for demolition permits.
The inspector, Gaspare Santoro, got 21 infractions for filing the April report for the Savo Brother Developers.
After neighbors complained, the DEP tested the site in August and found asbestos in one of the demolished buildings, a spokesman for the agency said.
Santoro only took 19 samples from the site. New inspectors — monitored by the city — recently took more than 300 from other buildings at the site. The DEP is still awaiting the results of the second test.
Santoro could face a range of punishments for the violations, including being stripped of his asbestos inspector license, Gilsenan said.
While a full stop-work order was issued in September, it was later changed to a partial stop-work order so that workers could do asbestos abatement.
However, residents worry proper precautions still aren't being taken and want all work to stop until a full investigation can be launched.
Borough President James Oddo also previously called for a halt to construction so the Department of Investigation could look into the work.
"Stop this project in its tracks and say to the other agencies, 'do not issue additional permits until we take a look at how we got here,'" Oddo previously told DNAinfo New York.
"Nothing should happen until DOI has a chance to look at all these dots and see if they’re connected."
The community board and state Sen. Diane Savino, who attended the meeting, called on the city to test the dust in residents' homes just to be sure asbestos didn't get inside.
"They don't trust that their homes are safe," Savino said. "They don't trust that their health has not been compromised."
