Protesters Say Fumes Ended Picketing

A protest by residents opposing fumigation at their senior community was cut short Tuesday when pickets complained of burning eyes and sore throats.

And the dispute with managers of the Huntington Landmark Adult Community led one irate resident to crash his car through the community’s security gate.

Huntington Landmark management has been trying to tent and fumigate 25 buildings, each with five privately owned units, to kill termites. But residents allege that the sulfuryl fluoride gas used made a neighbor sick two years ago, prompting a fight against further spraying.

Fumigation began Monday, and Tuesday morning about 12 residents picketed the work until one complained that his asthma was acting up, said Shelley Ervin, who joined her mother, Harriet, at the protest. “We started smelling something very strange,” Ervin said. “Everybody started to feel lightheaded.”

Ervin contends that wind blew gas residue from the tents into the pickets’ eyes and throats, causing discomfort, nausea and headaches. “I feel like I’ve been in the worst smog situation in the world,” she said.

Later in the morning, guards refused to admit a TV news cameraman, so resident Buck Custer put the photographer in his car and said the man was his guest. Guards still refused to raise the gate, Custer said, so he simply drove through it and snapped off the crossbar.

Huntington Landmark management did not return calls for comment Tuesday.

A former resident, Audrey Wendt, sued Huntington Landmark and Fume Works after her unit was tented in 1995. On returning home, Wendt alleged, she suffered from watery eyes and a scratchy throat, and eventually was hospitalized for cardiovascular problems and placed in a nursing home. Neighbors blame the fumigation for the declining health of Wendt, whose suit was settled out of court.