As the Portland Housing Authority works to combat a bed bug infestation in Franklin Towers, residents at two other PHA properties, Solterra and Bayside Anchor, are reporting ongoing bed bug and roach infestations. “Sleeping is very uncomfortable because you don’t know when you’re going to be bitten or exactly where they are,” said Owen Wolterbeek of Bayside Anchor. Wolterbeek has lived in Bayside Anchor since 2019. He started getting bed bugs and roaches in 2020. Since then, he’s thrown out furniture and received extermination treatments more than a dozen times, but the pests keep coming back. “It doesn’t feel like home because I have to pack my things around the clock,” said Wolterbeek. Once bed bugs are in an apartment building, they can easily spread between units. “They run under your door, out of your apartment, and across the hall to another,” said James Dill, pest expert at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “They migrate along pipes, they migrate along electrical cables.” Wolterbeek said several neighbors have been infested with bed bugs and some have refused treatment: “They should need treatment because it’s unfair that a whole bunch of us bed bugs when we keep our homes clean and do everything we’re supposed to do,” Wolterbeek said. The Portland Housing Authority said tenants who fail to prepare their units for service or refuse treatment will be evicted after three warnings. Meanwhile, if one unit has pests, the problem can be difficult to resolve.”If you don’t remove them from all units, it will only get infested again,” Dill said.The Portland Housing Authority declined our request for an interview.Twenty-one Units in Franklin Tower were infested with bed bugs as of August PHA spent nearly $133,000 on pest control this fiscal year ng spent in their buildings. We are still awaiting system-wide infestation data.
PORTLAND, Maine —
As the Portland Housing Authority works to combat a bed bug infestation in Franklin Towers, residents at two other PHA properties, Solterra and Bayside Anchor, are reporting ongoing bed bug and roach infestations.
“Sleeping is very uncomfortable because you don’t know when you’re going to get bitten or exactly where they are,” said Bayside Anchor’s Owen Wolterbeek.
Wolterbeek has lived in Bayside Anchor since 2019. In 2020 he started getting bed bugs and cockroaches. He’s since dumped furniture and received extermination treatments over a dozen times, but the pests keep coming back.
“It doesn’t feel like home because I have to pack my things around the clock,” said Wolterbeek.
Once bed bugs are in an apartment building, they can easily spread between units.
“They run under your door, out of your apartment, and across the hall to another,” said James Dill, pest expert at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “They walk along pipes, they walk along electrical cables.”
Wolterbeek said several neighbors have bed bug infestations and that some have refused treatment.
“They should be treated because it’s unfair that a whole bunch of us are catching bed bugs when we keep our homes clean and do everything we’re supposed to do,” Wolterbeek said.
The Portland Housing Authority said tenants who fail to prepare their units for service or refuse treatment will be evicted after three warnings. In the meantime, if a unit has vermin, the problem can be difficult to solve.
“If you don’t eliminate them from all units, it will only infest again,” Dill said.
The Portland Housing Authority declined our request for an interview. Twenty-one units in the Franklin Tower were infested with bed bugs in August. PHA spent nearly $133,000 on pest control on their buildings this fiscal year. We are still awaiting system-wide infestation data.
