Colonie neighborhood getting cleaned up after weeks of terrible smell

Construction crews removed rubble that neighbors said was making them sick.

That neighborhood in Colonie can quite literally take a breath now that the eyesore is finally being cleaned up.

It took weeks to finally get the debris taken away, and a team of six people, two companies, and an excavator to haul away all of this trash.

“Most of what they’re digging out and removing is simply typical building materials,” George Bailey said, with Adirondack Environmental Services.

The pile of garbage was once a home, but the town of Colonie said they had to demolish it after the roof partially collapsed in July.

The town of Colonie hired Adirondack Environmental Services and DiTonno & Sons Demolition to get the job done.

Both companies tell NewsChannel 13 they will be invoicing the town for their services.

The estimated cost? Between $20,000 to $30,000. It’s not coming out of the town’s pocket. It will either be billed against property taxes or the homeowner’s insurance.

Bailey is monitoring the Asbestos. He said the crew is spraying water on the debris as they pick it up off the ground and into a semi-truck.

However, it is hard to tell how much asbestos consumed the debris.

“Since the house partially collapsed and brought this on, there was no inspection. So I don’t know what there was there,” Bailey said.

Spraying the trash site down helps from the asbestos from getting in the air.

“Assuming they do that sufficiently, I’m taking five air samples around the site to test to see if they did,” Bailey said.

All of the debris will be cleaned up by Wednesday, Aug. 17.