Wednesday, February 21, 2001
|
Wednesday, February 21, 2001 |
|
4,000 new area homes affected by termite co.'s 'flagrant' abuses By JOHN THOMPSON
A Fayetteville pest control company has been cited by the state Department of Agriculture for providing inadequate service in termite treatments. RSA Services Termite and Pest Control is charged with not adequately treating more than 4,000 homes in the south metro area for termites during construction of new homes. The company has been in business since 1995 and is a subsidiary of R.S. Andrews Enterprises Inc. Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said that affected homeowners would receive a letter from his department informing them of the lack of termite treatment by the company. In the letter, Irvin urges the homeowners to have their property inspected soon since termite swarming season is fast approaching. "This service was performed out of RSA's Fayetteville office. However, since this is such a flagrant violation, we will investigate their other offices," Irvin said. Irvin added the company will be fined and he intends to meet with them March 6. When the company meets with Irvin, the commissioner expects that any consent order will involve going out and retreating the houses at no cost to the consumers. Irvin explained the company was pretreating the houses, but was not going in at the end of the construction phase and doing backfill work. "The problem is the dirt covers up those chemicals and those varmints have a clear shot at the house," he said. In his many years in charge of agriculture, Irvin said this is the biggest number of complaints ever documented. Most of the affected homes are in Fayetteville, Newnan, Stockbridge, McDonough, Ellenwood, Jonesboro and Rex. The commissioner said many people have been calling his office with new complaints and he plans to make sure that each of the consumers gets adequate treatment. But he urges residents to be patient. "The sheer volume of complaints will take us at least a year to make sure they're done right with our limited resources," he said. Officials at RSA Services did not return phone calls by press time.
|
||