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Title: DC Health Department responds to federal government building rodent infestation
Source:
The Washington Examiner
URL Source: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/l ... estation-8641815-78823497.html
Published: Dec 9, 2009
Author: Michael Neibauer
Post Date: 2009-12-09 08:26:26 by Happy Quanzaa
Keywords: White House, Capitol, Supreme Court
Views: 143
Comments: 3
A D.C. government building has been invaded by rats. The Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center, at 2000 14th St. NW, was besieged by rodents in recent weeks, spurring several complaints a day and an extermination effort by the city's Department of Health. Rats are "seen in offices and hallways all the time," one staffer said, and workers are finding rat feces in their offices and hallways. "I don't know that it's overrun, but I think there are some issues they're working on," said John Lisle, spokesman for the D.C. Department of Transportation. DDOT is located on the fifth floor. The agency has asked its employees "to be more careful about eating at your desk," Lisle said, and provided other tips to keep the vermin at bay. Other workers in the building say they were alerted by e-mail about a "rodent" problem, but the warnings did not indicate the severity of the infestation. Complaints continue to come in, but the number has been reduced from seven a day to about two, said Health Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson. Reeves is undergoing major renovation, including a project to accommodate three additional agencies, another to relocate the seventh-floor gym to the first floor and another to redesign the lobby security. That construction may have disturbed the vermin that had taken residence inside the building, though no one in the Fenty administration was able to say exactly what moved the rats to emerge. Reeves is home to DDOT, the Department of Public Works, Department of Human Resources, Office of Planning, Office of Campaign Finance and the Department of Real Estate Services, among other agencies. The Health Department's Rodent and Vector Control Division began an "integrated pest management program" on Nov. 28 that includes traps and baits, Iverson said. Once the rodents are squelched, the agency will move to rat-proof the building. "We'll continue the program until the problem is gone," Iverson said. Rodents plague the District, and have for generations, from the toniest to the poorest neighborhoods. The U Street corridor has long been a rat hot spot, as are Dupont Circle and Georgetown.
Rats are “seen in offices & hallways
all the time” & workers are
finding rat feces in their offices &
hallways, said one D.C. govt.
staffer who works at the Frank D.
Reeves Municipal Center. (iStock.com)
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#2. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
Maybe the rats just feel at home with their 2-legged relatives?
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