Date Published: 10/26/2019 [Source]
In Manhattan Supreme Court, a new suit filed claims that radon gas is getting through the floorboards of a multimillion-dollar apartment at the West Village Houses. Nick Hartman and Toni Allocca maintain that their pets have died of cancer due to an abundance of radon gas. Currently, the couple is suing the building's co-op board because they allege that remedial action was refused.
The couple claims that their dogs had developed bladder cancer and lymphoma in 2007. These dogs died that same year.
Even family members, such as the couple's daughter, said that they began to experience other health problems such as vertigo, ear issues, headaches and memory loss.
In the later future, more pets died of cancer and lymphoma leaving Nick and Toni in a crisis that they say was hard to put together likely because of the trauma.
Eventually, court documents proved that a state-certified inspector showed potentially dangerous radon levels in the home. Most likely, this was caused by a leak from contaminated soil and groundwater. Specifically, the testing concluded that levels of 3.7 and 5.6 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L) were found. The US Enviormental Protection Agency recommends a maximum level of 4 pCi/L and that mitigation should made at around 2 to 4 pCi/L.
The couple has been staying in rentals for the past 20 months. They want their co-op to purchase them a new home or give them a different residence in their building until the radon problem is remedied. Nick says that the he cannot afford to replace the problematic apartment nor can he sell it. This has left Toni questioning what she and her husband have done to find themselves in this situation after the trauma of losing many members of their pet family.