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Lindenhurst Homeowners Want Something Done About Vacant Moldy House

LINDENHURST, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Homeowners in one Long Island town have new concerns about a home on their block that is apparently filled with mold.

As CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan reported, school starts next week in Lindenhurst and parents don't want their children walking to Harding Elementary School past the so-called "Mold House" on Granada Parkway.

Residents say active wasp nests inhabit the door frame, cats and mice can be heard scurrying within and spores can be seen clinging to windows and siding.

"My next step is to have an X-ray of my lungs, because I don't know if it's doing anything permanent," said homeowner Keith Daniels. "And we've got a school across the street that's starting up, we have hundreds of kids walking every day by here."

Daniels said he has had a lingering cough and painful chest. He also said his street was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy.

"The tidal surge was up at least 8 feet. (Including next door?) Yes," Daniels said.

Daniels' neighbors never returned after Sandy and the home went into foreclosure, McLogan reported.

Now, 22 months later, amid sodden sheetrock, wrecked floors and floating carpets, mold spores the size of basketballs can be spotted lurking within -- the stench overpowering.

"It's shocking, it's amazing. It's two years later, not one thing has been done in the house at all, whatsoever. It's across from a school," said Michelle Insinga, with Adopt a Home.

Residents trying to lift and repair their homes nearby said it's unfair that derelict foreclosures are allowed to sit vacant.

And now, after being slammed by a historic rainstorm that dumped upwards of 13 inches in parts of Suffolk County earlier this month, residents are complaining that the airborne spores appear more rampant.

"That's mold. I am certified in mold remediation," said Daniels. "I wouldn't walk into that house unless I had a full face respirator, and a full one-piece suit taped at the ankles."

There is a notice stuck to the from window indicating the property passed its last inspection on July 18, but local residents want the place demolished, McLogan reported.

The town said the property is in the hands of the bank.

Wells Fargo said it is now obtaining bids for mold remediation, McLogan reported. It said it has been mowing the lawn and securing locks since the home became vacant.

Local officials said they will investigate and monitor the moldy house.

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