So the neighbor removed asbestos tainted air condition ducts from the attic w/o a permit.

[PoliticAverse]

5. I wouldn't worry about it (but I'd stay out of your neighbor's house where the ducts were).

I have asbestos-cement shingles on my house and when I was a kid I used to smash up damaged
shingles with a hammer also when I was in college in chemistry lab we used to handle asbestos
pads frequently (so I've had reason to read up on the matter a bit).

The asbestos scare seems to have been a bit overblown - most people getting cancer or experiencing
other health issues from asbestos exposure appear to have worked with large quantities of asbestos or
smaller quantities over long periods (it can take 30-50 years for cancer related asbestos exposure to
appear though).

For more info:

For more on asbestos and cancer see:
http://www.cancer.gov/images/Documents/67e63bef-d6e0-4c0f-9c7a-e8aa56ed969c/fs6_36.pdf
(note there are apparently less than 2,000 cases of asbestos-related cancer diagnosed each year).

EPA on asbestos:
http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/

Background on Asbestos:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos