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Apartment Roaches Force Family Outdoors
10 Aug
Summary
- Tenant and son eat meals outside due to severe infestation.
- Building owner states no comment due to pending legal matters.
- Tenant cannot afford to move due to subsidized housing.
A tenant in Sudbury, Ontario, is experiencing severe distress due to a persistent cockroach infestation in her downtown apartment. The situation has become so dire that she and her teenage son have resorted to eating all their meals outside their home, with food stored away from the kitchen.
Miranda Thornton, who moved into the apartment in 2020, reports ongoing issues with cockroaches despite annual fumigations paid for by the building owner, Whitehall Apartments. Thornton believes a building-wide treatment is necessary to resolve the infestation, but the company declined to comment due to a pending legal matter with her. This legal matter involves a complaint filed with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in December, scheduled for mediation on September 18.
The infestation has significantly impacted Thornton's mental health, causing her to feel overwhelmed and stressed. She fears spreading the pests to other residences, leading some family members to avoid visiting. Cockroaches pose health risks, potentially spreading bacteria through their feces. The most recent fumigation occurred on July 16, but the pests continue to return.
Thornton, who relies on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), cannot afford to move from her subsidized apartment. She also expressed concern that moving would mean abandoning her belongings. A property manager had previously raised concerns about clutter in Thornton's unit potentially hindering pest control efforts. Thornton explained that she had packed kitchen items into boxes to facilitate spraying, emphasizing that the infestation was present upon moving into the building.
Another tenant, Joan Mulcahy, who has resided in the building for over 30 years, confirmed that cockroaches have become a recent issue, though not as severe as in Thornton's unit. Mulcahy is among a dozen tenants who signed Thornton's petition advocating for building-wide fumigation. Whitehall Apartments did arrange pest control inspections for petition-signing tenants on August 6.
