By Wendy Winiewski
Reporter Global New
SASKATOON – With blood stained pillow cases and bedding, the peace and comfort of a good night’s rest is non-existent for Allan Moore. Dealing with relationship issues a couple years ago, Moore moved from his home to The Lighthouse Supported Living.
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Dead bed bugs New hope in the fight against bed bugs
He’s been dealing with bed bugs ever since.
“If you feel any movement on your body, you’re agitated immediately. You sit up, turn on the light, and look for them,” said Moore Wednesday afternoon outside the Sturdy Stone Centre on 22nd Street .
Moore’s claim is being heard by the Office of Residential Tenancies in Saskatoon. The hearing was adjourned Wednesday and has been rescheduled for Dec. 11. He wasn’t aware of the bed bug problem prior to moving in.
“Precautions at The Lighthouse, there are no notices or anything up on the wall saying it’s a bug infested building.”
Moore has replaced furniture, bedding and had his wrist recast after bed bugs claimed his previous one as a home. Alleged damages amount to $3,900.
Lawyer Trevor Oleniuk with Classic Inc. is representing Moore.
“Our position is that this type of claim amounts to a breach of the tenant’s rights to quiet enjoyment of having the unit free of any pests and things like that,” said Oleniuk.
By law, full disclosure of pre-existing issues must be given to potential tenants. According to Oleniuk, bed bugs would fall under this. The Lighthouse admits to and is constantly treating the problem.
“We try to house the hardest to house in our community and the people who have experienced homelessness or have been transient in the past,” said Communications Director DeeAnn Mercier.
“With that target population, sometimes there are issues, such as bed bugs.”
Darwin Micha is a tenant at The Lighthouse. Micha said the bed bug problem has recently improved.
“I’m homeless so I’d rather sleep with bed bugs than sleep outside,” said Micha.
It’s a line of thinking Moore said is common among residents of The Lighthouse, but believes tenants shouldn’t have to choose one or the other.
Moore is striving to be a representative voice in hopes of more proactive and consistent treatment when these situations arise.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the two sides were encouraged to settle the dispute on their own before to the next hearing. Moore has no intention of doing so, rather choosing to be a voice for the people.
www.prochempestsolutions.com
Monday, December 29, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
Muskogee Public Schools Develop New Bed Bug Policy
Tony Russell, News On 6
BioEmail
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma - Muskogee parents are being warned to check their children for bed bugs Friday night. Crews quickly cleaned and sanitized a classroom after a teacher found one of the bugs crawling on a student.
Muskogee Public Schools calls it an isolated incident, but parents were warned to check their children for bed bugs.
The district said they are taking the situation seriously and even developed a new bed bug policy.
"Just because somebody had a bug crawling on their clothes doesn't mean they have an infestation, so we want people to remember that," said Wendy Burton with Muskogee Public Schools.
She said administrators at Pershing Elementary found a bed bug on a student; and just like any case where a student shows lice, they took measures to clean the classroom.
"We just don't want people to panic, but we do want them to be aware so they'll take preventative measures at home, check things out at home and things like that," Burton said.
The Oklahoma Health Department said parents shouldn't be alarmed, but should take steps to sanitize backpacks and wash clothes.
"Bed bugs don't live long off the body; basically they come like head lice, they cause no disease or illness, they're just a nuisance," said Oklahoma Department of Health District Nurse Manager Joyce Walker.
"This is not a new epidemic or something; bed bugs have been here for quite a spell. They've been in the hotels, they've been everywhere, and so people just need to be knowledgeable about their transmission, how to get rid of them, what to look for," she said.
All 14 school principals in the Muskogee school district met at headquarters to talk about a new bed bug protocol and how to respond if they have any future incidents.
"If we have another report that there might be another bed bug in a classroom, of course they'll come right out and inspect. He can set monitors to trap them at night when no one's there and that way, if he catches a few bed bugs, then we know we have a big problem and we can immediately address it," Burton said.
The school district doesn't believe any students are at risk, but they have gone the extra step and purchased additional equipment if they have to eradicate anymore bed bugs.
www.prochempestsolutions.com
BioEmail
MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma - Muskogee parents are being warned to check their children for bed bugs Friday night. Crews quickly cleaned and sanitized a classroom after a teacher found one of the bugs crawling on a student.
Muskogee Public Schools calls it an isolated incident, but parents were warned to check their children for bed bugs.
The district said they are taking the situation seriously and even developed a new bed bug policy.
"Just because somebody had a bug crawling on their clothes doesn't mean they have an infestation, so we want people to remember that," said Wendy Burton with Muskogee Public Schools.
She said administrators at Pershing Elementary found a bed bug on a student; and just like any case where a student shows lice, they took measures to clean the classroom.
"We just don't want people to panic, but we do want them to be aware so they'll take preventative measures at home, check things out at home and things like that," Burton said.
The Oklahoma Health Department said parents shouldn't be alarmed, but should take steps to sanitize backpacks and wash clothes.
"Bed bugs don't live long off the body; basically they come like head lice, they cause no disease or illness, they're just a nuisance," said Oklahoma Department of Health District Nurse Manager Joyce Walker.
"This is not a new epidemic or something; bed bugs have been here for quite a spell. They've been in the hotels, they've been everywhere, and so people just need to be knowledgeable about their transmission, how to get rid of them, what to look for," she said.
All 14 school principals in the Muskogee school district met at headquarters to talk about a new bed bug protocol and how to respond if they have any future incidents.
"If we have another report that there might be another bed bug in a classroom, of course they'll come right out and inspect. He can set monitors to trap them at night when no one's there and that way, if he catches a few bed bugs, then we know we have a big problem and we can immediately address it," Burton said.
The school district doesn't believe any students are at risk, but they have gone the extra step and purchased additional equipment if they have to eradicate anymore bed bugs.
www.prochempestsolutions.com
Monday, November 17, 2014
Case of bedbugs reported in Forbes College
The Daily Princetonian (2014) explained,
A case of bedbugs was reported in a room in Forbes College on September 26, marking the first bedbug case of the 2014-15 academic year, said University spokesperson Martin Mbugua.
After the case was reported and an inspection of the room confirmed the presence of bedbugs, the two residents of the room were relocated to other campus housing to make room for heat treatment, Mbugua said. A University contractor was scheduled to treat the room by the next morning, and an email was sent to the Forbes community by Manager of Dormitories Kenneth Paulaski to notify residents of the contractor’s presence in the building.
“It has been confirmed that a room in Forbes Main has bedbugs,” Paulaski wrote. “A University contractor, who will be escorted by a University representative, will commence treating this room tomorrow morning.”
Paulaski deferred comment to Mbugua.
“In addition to preparing the room for treatment, monitors were placed in adjacent rooms as a precautionary measure,” Mbugua said. The results of the extermination procedure have yet to be determined, he added.
The room was a one-room double bedroom in the main inn. Cases of bedbugs are not uncommon in Forbes. A case was reported in April and another last September. In other parts of campus, three reports of bedbugs were made in Rockefeller College’s Holder Hall last March.
One of the Rocky cases was recurrent. After students were moved from the room and the room was exterminated, they reported a new case of bedbugs only four days after being allowed to move back in.
The common bedbug feeds on blood and causes itchy bites, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website. Although considered public health pests, bedbugs are not known to transmit or spread disease.
The prevalence of bedbugs has risen in the United States in recent years, according to the EPA. The EPA explains that this trend is possibly due to more travel, lack of public prevention awareness and increased resistance to pesticides.
The EPA recommends reducing clutter, using special bedbug-repelling mattress covers and regularly washing and heat-drying bed sheets and other cloth materials that touch the floor to prevent infestations. To identify possible bedbug infestations, the EPA suggests looking for spotted bedding and the presence of larvae and eggs.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this article misstated the date of the bedbugs incident. The incident was reported on September 26. The ‘Prince’ regrets the error.
Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify that the treatment used to combat bedbugs in a Forbes College room was heat treatment.
http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/2014/10/case-of-bedbugs-reported-in-forbes-college/
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Low-income renters in Anchorage bitten by another problem: Bedbugs
Alaska Daily News (2014) explained,
After years of homelessness with her husband and children, Sandra Haviland was ecstatic to land an apartment this May.
The two-bedroom unit at the Royal Suite Apartments, a former motel that fronts Minnesota Drive, was modest.
The couple’s elementary school-age sons would share a bed. So would their two teenage daughters. Haviland and her husband would sleep on the couch and a fold-out cot, respectively.
But after camping on the floor of a church and being crammed in motel rooms, an apartment promised stability and peace.
“When you are homeless and you finally get an apartment, you’re just so happy,” Haviland said.
But six months later, Haviland and others who reside at the Royal Suite Apartments are finding out just what being a low-income renter with few other options can mean in Anchorage.
Haviland and some of her neighbors say their apartments are so infested with bedbugs that they put children to bed at night with a dose of Benadryl to dull itching and allow sleep.
One of Haviland’s neighbors, Crystal Girlando, has taken to at times sleeping in her pickup to escape the bugs.
Girlando’s daughter-in-law Brandy Straight, who lives in another unit, catches bedbugs in a cup of water for proof. Like many other residents, she has removed her mattress, box spring and couch from the apartment to a stairwell in an effort to expel bedbugs.
The manager of the Royal Suite Apartments says he is doing everything possible to rid the apartments of bugs, having purchased a $10,000 electric heater that is supposed to safely eradicate bedbugs from an apartment over a six-hour period.
“I am very confident we are taking care of those problems,” said manager Thomas Yoon.
After years of homelessness with her husband and children, Sandra Haviland was ecstatic to land an apartment this May.
The two-bedroom unit at the Royal Suite Apartments, a former motel that fronts Minnesota Drive, was modest.
The couple’s elementary school-age sons would share a bed. So would their two teenage daughters. Haviland and her husband would sleep on the couch and a fold-out cot, respectively.
But after camping on the floor of a church and being crammed in motel rooms, an apartment promised stability and peace.
“When you are homeless and you finally get an apartment, you’re just so happy,” Haviland said.
But six months later, Haviland and others who reside at the Royal Suite Apartments are finding out just what being a low-income renter with few other options can mean in Anchorage.
Haviland and some of her neighbors say their apartments are so infested with bedbugs that they put children to bed at night with a dose of Benadryl to dull itching and allow sleep.
One of Haviland’s neighbors, Crystal Girlando, has taken to at times sleeping in her pickup to escape the bugs.
Girlando’s daughter-in-law Brandy Straight, who lives in another unit, catches bedbugs in a cup of water for proof. Like many other residents, she has removed her mattress, box spring and couch from the apartment to a stairwell in an effort to expel bedbugs.
The manager of the Royal Suite Apartments says he is doing everything possible to rid the apartments of bugs, having purchased a $10,000 electric heater that is supposed to safely eradicate bedbugs from an apartment over a six-hour period.
“I am very confident we are taking care of those problems,” said manager Thomas Yoon.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Bedbugs found on another subway line, MTA takes three R trains out of service
 |
| ProChem - Heat is the best treatment |
Bugger off! The bloodsuckers have survived the MTA's fumigation efforts, adding to the 21 bedbug sightings in August. Subway workers unions are calling on the authority to establish a more regular spraying schedule.
Hey straphangers, R you feeling itchy?
Bedbugs have jumped over to the R train — one subway line that had not been affected by a series of recent sightings of the dreaded bloodsuckers riding the rails.
Since last Wednesday, Sept. 3, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has taken three R trains out of service after receiving reports of bedbugs on board, transit sources said.
“The MTA is losing the war on bed bugs,” said Joe Costales, a chairman with the subway workers union, Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Late last month, the Daily News published the low-down on bug stats in the subways: there were 21 bedbug sightings during the month of August, affecting the A, L,N,Q,3,4,5 and 6 lines.
Most of the sightings were on subway trains; a few were in subway crew rooms or offices.
The MTA confirmed that it fumigated 16 trains after bedbugs were found on board last month.
In addition to the September sightings on the trio of R trains, an A train was sent to a rail yard after a bedbug sighting was made within the last week, the sources said.
Costales and Kevin Harrington, a Local 100 vice president, demanded the MTA fumigate the entire subway fleet, establish a regular schedule for cars to be sprayed and make regular cleanings more thorough.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz, however, said the agency would not change its course. “We continue to follow the same protocol,” Ortiz said. “Once we receive a report of a sighting, the train is taken out of service and inspected. In most cases, the car is then treated, even in cases where no bugs are found.”
Some checks are done visually, butthe MTA brings sometimes in a pest control service that uses a bug-detecting dog.
“Regular fumigation of cars would be a waste of time and resources considering we have not discovered an infestation anywhere in the system, and fumigating would only be as good as the next time a person walks into the system carrying a bug,” Ortiz said.
Bedbugs can live up to 30 days without feeding and often move from location to location by hitching rides on a person’s clothing. Since bedbugs feed on blood, an infestation usually occurs in areas where people sleep, including apartments, rooming houses and hotels.
They bunk down in the seams of mattresses, bedframes, dressers, and cracks and crevices near food supplies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They do not carry diseases but can cause itchiness and other discomfort.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bedbugs-found-subway-line-article-1.1934519
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Tenant warns of ‘brutal’ experience with bedbugs
The Chronicle Herald (2014) explained,
Student lost about $5,000 in belongings to insects
One student back for the fall semester is warning others that long-term bedbug infestations can go unchecked in Halifax, even as unwitting new tenants move in.
After losing about $5,000 worth of belongings, Sara Lampinen says too much is at stake to allow lax pest control.
At the beginning of August, Lampinen arrived from Edmonton to sublet an apartment for seven months in Ocean Towers on Brunswick Street.
Just days after she moved in, she started getting bites.
The infestation was so bad that Lampinen, 23, could see bedbugs crawling around on her bed. She talked to building management and offered to show them her bites.
“They said, ‘No, no, we already know what they look like,’” she said.
“They said they did have bedbug problems before, but they weren’t in the unit that I was in. So they obviously knew that there were bedbug infestations within the apartment building.”
She only lasted three weeks in the apartment before giving up and moving out Friday. She said she threw out thousands of dollars worth of furniture and bedding, and her clothes needed to be specially laundered.
Managers at the building, which is owned by Toronto company CAPREIT, first arranged for Lampinen’s apartment to be sprayed, but she said the one-time treatment didn’t clear up the problem.
Bedbugs can live in walls and easily travel between apartments, and pest control experts often recommend treating a whole building or a whole section of a building rather than a single unit.
When Lampinen told them she was leaving, and the bugs were still there, “they didn’t seem to care at all,” she said.
A CAPREIT representative did not respond to a request for comment.
The renter who sublet Lampinen the apartment eventually admitted he knew there had been a bedbug problem in the building, she said. Building management also had a chance to warn her, she said; though she was subletting, she introduced herself ahead of time.
“I just want people to know because it’s … brutal, especially when I asked questions beforehand,” she said.
Bedbug-related complaints and financial losses are often handled on a case-by-case basis in Halifax.
Tenants have the option to complain to the Residential Tenancies Board about the state of their apartments, or go through small claims court to recoup financial losses, said Tracy Barron, spokeswoman for Service Nova Scotia.
It appears some financial issues can be resolved through the tenancies board. In at least one case in 2007, the board director ordered a landlord to pay a tenant $875 because of a bedbug infestation, a decision that automatically became an order of small claims court if it wasn’t appealed.
The tenant in that case had asked for retroactive rent rebates and money to cover laundering and damaged belongings. The landlord admitted the bugs had been present when the tenant moved in.
To monitor long-term infestations, it’s up to municipalities, not the province, to ensure landlords are meeting standards for residential buildings. Halifax bylaws require landlords to keep their units free of rodents and insects at all times.
Tenants can call 311 to report infestations and request inspections at their buildings, said an operator with the information service.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1231671-tenant-warns-of-brutal-experience-with-bedbugs
Student lost about $5,000 in belongings to insects
One student back for the fall semester is warning others that long-term bedbug infestations can go unchecked in Halifax, even as unwitting new tenants move in.
After losing about $5,000 worth of belongings, Sara Lampinen says too much is at stake to allow lax pest control.
At the beginning of August, Lampinen arrived from Edmonton to sublet an apartment for seven months in Ocean Towers on Brunswick Street.
Just days after she moved in, she started getting bites.
The infestation was so bad that Lampinen, 23, could see bedbugs crawling around on her bed. She talked to building management and offered to show them her bites.
“They said, ‘No, no, we already know what they look like,’” she said.
“They said they did have bedbug problems before, but they weren’t in the unit that I was in. So they obviously knew that there were bedbug infestations within the apartment building.”
She only lasted three weeks in the apartment before giving up and moving out Friday. She said she threw out thousands of dollars worth of furniture and bedding, and her clothes needed to be specially laundered.
Managers at the building, which is owned by Toronto company CAPREIT, first arranged for Lampinen’s apartment to be sprayed, but she said the one-time treatment didn’t clear up the problem.
Bedbugs can live in walls and easily travel between apartments, and pest control experts often recommend treating a whole building or a whole section of a building rather than a single unit.
When Lampinen told them she was leaving, and the bugs were still there, “they didn’t seem to care at all,” she said.
A CAPREIT representative did not respond to a request for comment.
The renter who sublet Lampinen the apartment eventually admitted he knew there had been a bedbug problem in the building, she said. Building management also had a chance to warn her, she said; though she was subletting, she introduced herself ahead of time.
“I just want people to know because it’s … brutal, especially when I asked questions beforehand,” she said.
Bedbug-related complaints and financial losses are often handled on a case-by-case basis in Halifax.
Tenants have the option to complain to the Residential Tenancies Board about the state of their apartments, or go through small claims court to recoup financial losses, said Tracy Barron, spokeswoman for Service Nova Scotia.
It appears some financial issues can be resolved through the tenancies board. In at least one case in 2007, the board director ordered a landlord to pay a tenant $875 because of a bedbug infestation, a decision that automatically became an order of small claims court if it wasn’t appealed.
The tenant in that case had asked for retroactive rent rebates and money to cover laundering and damaged belongings. The landlord admitted the bugs had been present when the tenant moved in.
To monitor long-term infestations, it’s up to municipalities, not the province, to ensure landlords are meeting standards for residential buildings. Halifax bylaws require landlords to keep their units free of rodents and insects at all times.
Tenants can call 311 to report infestations and request inspections at their buildings, said an operator with the information service.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1231671-tenant-warns-of-brutal-experience-with-bedbugs
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Bedbugs spotted at least 21 times on subways in August, say sources — MTA hiring expert to review efforts
New York Daily News (2014) explained,
'We’ve never had sightings to this magnitude,' said Joe Costales, a chairman with Transport Workers Union Local 100. 'We’ve had isolated incidents in crew quarters, but it’s no longer an isolated scenario. It’s throughout the system.'
Another day, another bedbug found in the subway.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have been very reluctant to talk about bedbugs in the transit system. It’s a story they wish would just go away.
So we’ll rely on undercover transit sources to bring you the first-ever BugStat.
There were at least 21 reported bedbug sightings or encounters in the subway in August — including a few incidents in which a bloodsucker bit a conductor or a rider, sources said.
According to these transit insiders, there were nine sightings on N trains, three on Q trains and two on No. 6 trains.
Bedbugs are riding the subways this summer. There have been 21 reports in August.
The itch-inducing insects also were spotted once each on Nos. 3, 4, 5 and L trains, the sources said.
In addition to riding the rails, bedbugs were found in transit worker crew rooms and subway offices in Astoria, Queens, and Coney Island, Brooklyn (N and Q lines), and Euclid Ave., East New York, also in Brooklyn (A line).
“We’ve never had sightings to this magnitude,” said Joe Costales, a chairman with Transport Workers Union Local 100. “We’ve had isolated incidents in crew quarters, but it’s no longer an isolated scenario. It’s throughout the system.”
A couple of transit workers believe they have unwittingly brought bedbugs home from the job.
The MTA has steadily downplayed the significance of its insect ridership. It’s just a small part of life in the big city, officials contend.
“The subway system has 5.5 million riders every single day and we can’t check all of them for bedbugs before letting them on the train,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said in early August. “That said, when we get reports of bedbug sightings, we investigate — and exterminate. This is an interesting story but not a big problem.”
On Friday, the chief spokesman pretty much said the same thing, although the math was slightly different.
“More than 5.8 million people ride 8,000 subway trains on an average weekday, but the MTA has found no bedbug infestations on any trains, and has found and treated bedbugs on only 16 trains,” Lisberg said.
Bedbugs were found on the N line.
Still, there is some evidence to suggest the MTA is getting a bit uncomfortable.
The agency is hiring “a recognized expert” to review its anti-bedbug efforts, Lisberg said Friday.
And it is responding to rider complaints with surprising speed.
Laura Cohen, a lawyer who regularly rides the Lexington Ave. line, complained by email of being bitten by a bedbug on Aug. 25.
The bed bugs found riding the N train got a free ride to an MTA cleaner's home - and now the employee's infested with the little critters. The 54-year-old MTA cleaner, who wished not to be named, said she first noticed the bedbugs in her home on Aug. 3.
“This is disgusting and frightening,” she wrote.
Cohen received an automatic reply stating a response would come — but could take up to 15 days.
“I was furious,” she said. “Fifteen days. That’s worse than a slumlord.”
But she need not have gotten angry; a customer service manager wrote back less than three hours later.
“Please be assured that pest control will continue to be dispatched to trains and employee crew rooms where bedbugs have been reported. They will inspect . . . and fumigate as necessary.”
It’s good to know the MTA is listening. But if this story doesn’t go away soon, officials are going to keep getting bitten.
PDonohue@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/bedbugs-spotted-21-times-subways-august-sources-mta-hiring-expert-tackle-issue-article-1.1923375#ixzz3CZxSWLuc
'We’ve never had sightings to this magnitude,' said Joe Costales, a chairman with Transport Workers Union Local 100. 'We’ve had isolated incidents in crew quarters, but it’s no longer an isolated scenario. It’s throughout the system.'
Another day, another bedbug found in the subway.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have been very reluctant to talk about bedbugs in the transit system. It’s a story they wish would just go away.
So we’ll rely on undercover transit sources to bring you the first-ever BugStat.
There were at least 21 reported bedbug sightings or encounters in the subway in August — including a few incidents in which a bloodsucker bit a conductor or a rider, sources said.
According to these transit insiders, there were nine sightings on N trains, three on Q trains and two on No. 6 trains.
Bedbugs are riding the subways this summer. There have been 21 reports in August.
The itch-inducing insects also were spotted once each on Nos. 3, 4, 5 and L trains, the sources said.
In addition to riding the rails, bedbugs were found in transit worker crew rooms and subway offices in Astoria, Queens, and Coney Island, Brooklyn (N and Q lines), and Euclid Ave., East New York, also in Brooklyn (A line).
“We’ve never had sightings to this magnitude,” said Joe Costales, a chairman with Transport Workers Union Local 100. “We’ve had isolated incidents in crew quarters, but it’s no longer an isolated scenario. It’s throughout the system.”
A couple of transit workers believe they have unwittingly brought bedbugs home from the job.
The MTA has steadily downplayed the significance of its insect ridership. It’s just a small part of life in the big city, officials contend.
“The subway system has 5.5 million riders every single day and we can’t check all of them for bedbugs before letting them on the train,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg said in early August. “That said, when we get reports of bedbug sightings, we investigate — and exterminate. This is an interesting story but not a big problem.”
On Friday, the chief spokesman pretty much said the same thing, although the math was slightly different.
“More than 5.8 million people ride 8,000 subway trains on an average weekday, but the MTA has found no bedbug infestations on any trains, and has found and treated bedbugs on only 16 trains,” Lisberg said.
Bedbugs were found on the N line.
Still, there is some evidence to suggest the MTA is getting a bit uncomfortable.
The agency is hiring “a recognized expert” to review its anti-bedbug efforts, Lisberg said Friday.
And it is responding to rider complaints with surprising speed.
Laura Cohen, a lawyer who regularly rides the Lexington Ave. line, complained by email of being bitten by a bedbug on Aug. 25.
The bed bugs found riding the N train got a free ride to an MTA cleaner's home - and now the employee's infested with the little critters. The 54-year-old MTA cleaner, who wished not to be named, said she first noticed the bedbugs in her home on Aug. 3.
“This is disgusting and frightening,” she wrote.
Cohen received an automatic reply stating a response would come — but could take up to 15 days.
“I was furious,” she said. “Fifteen days. That’s worse than a slumlord.”
But she need not have gotten angry; a customer service manager wrote back less than three hours later.
“Please be assured that pest control will continue to be dispatched to trains and employee crew rooms where bedbugs have been reported. They will inspect . . . and fumigate as necessary.”
It’s good to know the MTA is listening. But if this story doesn’t go away soon, officials are going to keep getting bitten.
PDonohue@nydailynews.com
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/bedbugs-spotted-21-times-subways-august-sources-mta-hiring-expert-tackle-issue-article-1.1923375#ixzz3CZxSWLuc
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