Middle Island woman says lingering odor, cleanup delays following neighbor's death raises health concerns
Authorities discovered that her neighbor had died and estimated he had been dead for about a week before being found.
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A Middle Island woman says she has been left dealing with a lingering foul odor and what she believes could be a health hazard after her next-door neighbor died inside his townhouse, and she says she has been unable to get anyone to address the situation.
Marianne Della Croce, who lives on Crystal Rock Court, said she first noticed something was wrong about a week ago when a strong odor began coming from the neighboring unit.
"The smell was really terrible. We knew right away something was wrong," Della Croce said.
She says that out of concern, she contacted police to request a welfare check.
Authorities discovered that her neighbor had died and estimated he had been dead for about a week before being found.
While the body was removed from the townhouse, Della Croce said no additional cleanup was performed, leaving behind an odor that persisted for days.
"I have absolute empathy for the family," she said. "However, now that it's been about a week, and it was a week prior that he passed away, I know there's all sorts of biomedical waste that needs to be cleaned up."
Della Croce said she has spent the past week trying to determine who is responsible for cleaning the unit but has found little help. She says her homeowner's insurance will not cover the cleanup because the affected property is not her own.
Croce also said she has not received the assistance she was hoping for from either the homeowners association or the property's management company.
In the meantime, Della Croce has been keeping her windows open in an effort to reduce the odor. Although she said the smell has improved over the past week, she remains concerned about the potential health risks and wants the neighboring unit professionally cleaned.
"No one's really able to help me find who's supposed to be responsible for cleaning the unit," she said. "I just want someone to do something about it."
The property management company was contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
