Question about house demo next door and lead dust

Hi - my neighbor has just begun demo-ing their porch and the back of their house in prep for a large renovation. This being Maplewood, it is happening about 20 feet from my backdoor and patio. Today as I watched them I started wondering about the dust. And lead in particular.

Not really sure exactly what my question is - something like, should I worry? Should I raise it with my neighbor? Is there an easy way to get dust samples tested? So far they are not doing anything obvious to contain dust.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Call Robert Roe, the town health officer @ Town Hall. He will come and assess the way the dust is being handled and how it is affecting your property. He was very helpful.

(973) 762-8120 ext. 4400

Hours Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 4:30 pm

Ordinarily, I would talk to a neighbor before getting government involved.

You can talk to him but anyway call Roe.

Your neighbor may be helpful but what does he really know about hazardous dust remediation or if it is hazardous? The contractor or whoever is doing the work can assume there is no issue and tell you so but only an expert can really tell if this is being done correctly.

You would be doing yourself and your neighbor a favor by getting this right. Hazardous dust is not a joke. You can have lead, asbestos, silicon..

You should not worry. There is nothing bad that's going to happen. People will say otherwise but they are being nervous Nellis.

I saw a movie about just this problem. One homeowner had the same question about whether a demolition was conducted properly (I forget whether it was her house or the house next door). She was assured that everything was hunky-dory. Actually it wasn't, and all her kids now have cognitive and behavioral problems to some degree due to lead poisoning.

Wouldn't this be part of the normal inspection process? (ETA: If not, it ought to be, I'd think.).