BAYONNE -- Bayonne City officials shut down the Bayonne Bridge project job site on Monday, April 17 due to excessive dust conditions created by demolition work, according to City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski. Members of the city council, the mayor, business administrator, the city health officer, and the Hudson Regional Health Commission visited the site on Monday after receiving complaints of excessive dust. Then on Tuesday, April 18, demolition work resumed after the Port Authority agreed to use multiple hoses for each machine, and change the angles which the hoses are sprayed. They also installed dust monitors to measure wind and dust buildup in the area.

“There was a lot of dust,” said Nadrowski. “Where you can write messages on car windows, that much dust. It was all over peoples’ clothes and windows.”

Nadrowski said it was clear that the demolition crews were not using enough water, resulting in dusty building material. “It was definitely the result of not following protocol,” said Nadrowski. Residents living near the construction have reported lead flakes in their yard, excessive noise, and other construction-related nuisances. “The people down there, and I’m one of them, live with a lot of inconveniences,” Nadrowski said. “It’s unacceptable; you can’t even breathe, you have to go home and take a shower.”

The Port Authority is offering free car and window washing for those affected, as well as free car covers. Photo courtesy of First Ward Councilman Thomas Cotter, who was at his brother's house when wind began spewing an inordinate amount of dust into the streets.