Dirty demolitions can hurt you

Jarrett Renshaw -- Jersey Journal -- September 19, 2007

Residents are being asked to pay a high price for Jersey City's development boom, and it's not just a matter of dollar and cents.

Just ask Susan Loricchio.
?
As Loricchio prepares for the seventh demolition on her block since 2005, she adorns all her hard surfaces with clear plastic to help deal with the dust and dirt.

It would be easy to say that demolition and occasional disturbances are just some of the consequences people face in exchange for living in an urban setting, but that would ignore the health issues for Loricchio.

Two years ago, during the demolition of two homes on her Seventh Street block, she began suffering from shortness of breath and other respiratory problems. A musical director and professional singer, these problems were more than just a nuisance; they posed potential financial problems.

"It felt like my mouth was attached to a vacuum cleaner," she said recently.

A New York doctor confirmed her suspicions. He told her that her respiratory problems are consistent with breathing in hazardous construction debris, comparing her symptoms to those suffered by numerous workers involved in the cleanup of the World Trade Center.

After getting the doctor's report, Loricchio paid more than a $1,000 for an industrial hygienist to conduct an assessment of her home. Like the doctor, the industrial hygienist concluded that the thick dust in her home was construction debris - and posed medical risks.

Loricchio tried to reach out to the Mayor's (In)-Action Bureau and the city's construction office, but, like most other cases in my experience, those calls for help went unnoticed.

"I wrote a letter to the mayor, and I made sure to write with a pen, so that he would know that I was a real person," Loricchio said. " I just don't want other people to go through this if they don't have to."

I am not sure what the city or the mayor can do, but simply ignoring a taxpayer facing serious problems is surely not the answer.

Loricchio claims the contractor failed to wet down the property to keep dust from flying, showing photos of workers emptying trash cans overflowing with dust into large garbage containers.


She also claims they worked at night and on weekends without permits, accusations that are impossible to prove now.

One of the problems with the city's oversight of demolition projects is simply a numbers game. Currently, there are 28 inspectors in the city's Construction Code Office who must handle everything, from fire inspections to code enforcement.

With the amount of new construction and renovations in the city, how can we expect the city's Construction Code Office to also police the more than 395 single-and two-family homes demolished last year?

The short answer is we can't, and that's where residents play a role.

Residents can and should report problems to the city's Construction Code Office by giving them a call, at (201) 547-5270, or visit them at 30 Montgomery St. If the problem occurs after 4 p.m. during the week, or on the weekends, residents should call local police.

City officials say that they have substantial powers to regulate demolition projects, saying they have shut down a number of them in the past for quality-of-life concerns.

At the most basic level, a contractor must run a clean, safe demolition site that does not unfairly impact neighboring property owners. If they fail, the city can shut the project down.

In addition, contractors need to obtain a permit to work on weekends, and, though it's not required, city inspectors can force contractors to wet down the property if debris becomes a nuisance.