WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-St. J Tenants Battle Bedbugs

St. J Tenants Battle Bedbugs

St. Johnsbury, Vermont - August 7, 2009

A pesky nuisance has invaded an apartment complex in downtown St. Johnsbury.

"I thought it was a myth. They tell you when you were a kid, don't let the bed bugs bite, but now it is a real thing," tenant Jason Stepp said.

For the last four months, tenants living in the Depot Square building have been living side by side with bedbugs, even after repeated attempts to exterminate them.

"It seems like they can't get rid of it then you have to throw away all of your stuff and start from scratch," Stepp said.

A dog specially trained to sniff out bedbugs recently went through the apartment complex and found that all but eight of the 47 units are infested.

Various state agencies gathered in St. Johnsbury Friday morning to work on an action plan to eradicate the bugs. The building's owner joined the meeting by phone.

"This applies not only to people from Depot Square, it applies to everybody now. We are in a new world," property owner Herbert Berezin said.

Inspectors said the bedbugs were brought into the building by tenants. Bedbugs often hide in furniture, carpets, beds, and in walls. And because they are so small, exterminating them completely is nearly impossible.

"Ever since they outlawed the spraying of DDT, this has become a problem for everybody in our business," Berezin said.

This is the second meeting the group has held but officials say they are charting new territory.

"This is a whole new dilemma for a lot of agencies and housing agencies and social service workers in regards to dealing with this problem," said Greg MacDonald of the Agency of Human Services. "So there are really not a lot of protocols and procedures in place."

An exterminator is expected to go through the building Wednesday, but tenants still worry about the future.

"If they condemn it, then where are we going to go? Because everybody is going to think that we have bedbugs and we are going to bring them wherever we go," Stepp said. "There is absolutely concern."

A concern over annoying bugs that have taken refuge right in the middle of this city.

Adam Sullivan - WCAX News