Housing authority ‘aggressive’ with bedbugs
Two units at Washington County Housing Authority’s Valley View Terrace in Canonsburg are being treated for bedbugs.
According to property manager Lisa Gerhart, a resident notified her Wednesday of the infestation.
“We had an exterminator within a couple of days to verify that’s what they were,” she said.
While bedbugs usually make their homes in mattresses, they can live in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, in the folds of curtains, under wall hangings and where the wall and ceiling meet, according to the Environmental Protection Agency website.
They don’t transmit diseases, but bedbugs do feed on blood and cause irritating bites.
The critters are about the size of an apple seed and can be identified as dark spots or reddish stains on bedding, which are caused by the bugs being crushed.
If not treated quickly, a small infestation can become widespread, states the EPA.
There are 123 units at the Canonsburg public housing complex. Washington County Housing Authority executive director Stephen Hall estimates that about 310 residents live in the one- to four-bedroom apartments.
Hall said a chemical product application was used during the inspection and that the exterminator, Witt Pest Management of Pittsburgh, will return this week to use a heat treatment. According to the EPA, heat treatment raises the temperature of the affected unit to as high as 140 degrees. The bedbugs die at 113 degrees, but their surroundings must be hotter to reach them wherever they are hiding.
This is not the first time local agencies have had to battle the pesky intruders. The housing authority’s Crumrine Tower on South Franklin Street in Washington was treated for an outbreak in November. Soon after, Washington County Redevelopment Authority’s Crest Avenue Apartments in Charleroi were treated.
“We’ve had other incidents,” Hall said. “We’re very proactive in trying to do something about it. We’re very aggressive in treating them.”
Gerhart said a sign has been posted on the office door, notifying residents and guests of the infestation. In order to stop the spread, Hall said residents were informed during the inspection to be careful not to visit other residents and carry the bugs with them.