CalEPA Building Has a Rat Infestation; ‘Catch-and-Release’ Isn’t Working

Wednesday morning, CBS13 reported that the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters building in downtown Sacramento has been fighting a rat infestation for more than five weeks. Apparently their “environmentally friendly” modes of rattus-rattus eradication have not worked. “After weeks of environmentally friendly, chemical-free pest control methods, the agency is now electing to use poison to kill the critters,” CBS13 reported.

This is ironic for two reasons:

1. While Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and other large California cities are experiencing rat infestations within homeless camps, there is a movement to ban Rodenticides – rodent poisons.
2. CalEPA regulates rat poison… and its own building is infested with rattus-rattus. “The California Department of Pesticide Regulation enforces a ban passed in 2014 on super-toxic rodenticide-use beyond 50 feet of man-made structures,” CBS13 reported.

Additionally, AB 1788 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) will ban Rodenticides, California Globe reported in May. “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  and Department of Pesticide Regulation already regulate these products for efficacy, human health impacts and impacts to the environment.”

San Francisco, one of the largest cities with a large vagrant homeless population and vermin problem, has a no-kill, catch-and-release rat policy: “Humane Wildlife Control addresses the problem by sealing holes in buildings that can create entry points for rodents, and then they set up live catch traps to capture rats,” SF Gate reported in 2017. “Once rats are caught, they’re released right in the backyard.”

Well, CapEPA tried the “eco-friendly” route, it will now implement poison to rid the massive downtown Sacramento building of the rat population. CalEPA is located right across the street from Sacramento City Hall, and Cesar Chavez park, home to many of the city’s homeless vagrants.

“CalEPA’s deputy director for external and legislative affairs released a statement, reading in part ‘when we learned of a rat problem in our building’s exterior courtyard and childcare center play yard, we took action with non-toxic pest management measures,'” CBS14 reported. “When those measures did not solve the problem, we consulted experts and determined that protecting children from rodent-borne diseases required the additional step of applying a rodenticide with strict safety procedures.”

While Assemblyman Bloom’s concern about poisoning California ecosystems, as well as other mammals is real, the timing of his bill is unfortunate with the vermin infestations caused by thousands of vagrants living on city streets. All cities need rodent control programs. In Los Angeles, sanitation has completely broken down. Los Angeles had a typhus outbreak last year, and Dr. Drew Pinsky on KABC predicts LA “will have typhus this summer.” Dr. Drew said he is hearing from experts that bubonic plague is likely already in Los Angeles. He warns it will get onto the rat fleas. “And now finally we have this oral-fecal route contamination which is tyhpoid fever.”

CalEPA may want to hire a good pest control company. The agency needs to get control of their rodent infestation immediately, and identify the source before it spreads to City Hall.

(Another irony – the rat-infested CalEPA Headquarters Building at 1001 I Street is where the California Air Resources Board holds its public board meetings and workshops)