After a heated meeting with management, a major overhaul is underway at the Cove Village Apartments in Essex…a complex that’s had chronic carbon monoxide problems. But some tenants are still worried the CO problem will return.
It was a busy day at Cove Village. Brand new stoves lined the street as crews worked to install them. In all, about 120 stoves and 25 hot water heaters were replaced.
A free lunch was catered by management, all in response to the ongoing carbon monoxide problems that have plagued Cove Village and its tenants for years. Robin Lyle, a tenant says, "When you wake up in the morning, you have fire trucks and ambulances outside. You're not sure whether something's going on with someone or if it's the carbon monoxide once again."
Even with all the changes, new stoves and hot water heaters, tenants believe it won't fix the problem. They think the carbon monoxide problem is being caused by something else.
At 42 Skipjack Court, where CO problems sent people to the hospital twice this week, Diane Bock thinks it's a problem with the vents.
When workers installed the new stove, she found out the exhaust fan isn't venting to the outside. Bock says, "I said as far as the gas is going, where is it venting to? And he said it's not. And I said you mean there are no pipes to vent it out? And he showed me the wall when it was all taken down and showed me there was no place for it to vent outside."
Some people are ready to make a move and want out of their lease. But management says anyone who wants to leave needs to go to the leasing office. Decisions will be made on a case by case basis.
Lyle says, "You cannot hold people hostage to a place where they don't want to be for a reason that they have no control over." Lateia Watson, another tenant says, "I'm leaving. I'm leaving I don't care about a lease, I'm out. I'm gone by the end of this month."
Back in 2005, a family was killed at Cove Village from carbon monoxide poisoning.
