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Brady Sullivan Tenants Plead With Town Council To Address Alleged Mold

Town of Coventry screenshot

Residents of a Rhode Island apartment complex owned by Brady Sullivan Properties begged town officials Monday night to protect them from toxic mold.

Manchester-based Brady Sullivan built the Harris Mill lofts in the town of Coventry.

The company is facing several lawsuits from residents who say mold in their apartments has made them and their young children sick, and that their landlord has covered it up.

Those residents' lawyers say they plan to file dozens of other suits in the coming weeks for residents of Harris Mills and other Brady Sullivan properties in the state.

Coventry has asked Brady Sullivan to fix various code violations at Harris Mills, but hasn't taken further action.

The town council said Monday night they're concerned about the allegations, but the town solicitor put off their planned discussion with Coventry’s building inspector at Brady Sullivan's request.

Residents still spoke up during public comment with desperate pleas for the town to intervene.

Former Harris Mills tenant Jeffrey Mastrobuono said mold in his apartment gave him a terminal lung disease, while the town ignored his requests for help.

"I'm a dying man,” he said. “I have a life expectancy of about two more years left, because I chose to live in the town of Coventry."

Joanne Lomas-Neira told councilors she loved her Harris Mill apartment at first, but now has a debilitating respiratory illness.

"I thought, oh, this is heaven, I love this place,” she said. “And then to realize that -- in the last two years, I've been poisoned."

Lomas-Neira sued the company to break her lease at Harris Mill earlier this month.

A Brady Sullivan lawyer at the meeting repeated their denial of the allegations and said residents are being misinformed.

Annie has covered the environment, energy, climate change and the Seacoast region for NHPR since 2017. She leads the newsroom's climate reporting project, By Degrees.
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