Kristina Trent said Friday her father hasn’t been able to be at home much over the last two weeks amid another outbreak of bedbugs at a Jeannette high-rise apartment building.

“My dad has to stay with me. He can’t go home to a house where he is still paying rent,” Trent said. “It’s so frustrating,”

Westmoreland County Housing Authority officials confirmed this week that work crews have been dispatched to Jeannette Manor to eradicate a bedbug infestation that has plagued the complex off and on for the last four years.

Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Washowich said no evacuations were mandated as extermination crews work to rid the 95-unit building of the bugs.

It’s a continuing battle, he said.

“About 10% to 15% of the units were infested. We find a couple, then they move on to other spots in the building,” Washowich said.

The authority spends about $200,000 annually to fight bedbugs throughout its more than three dozen public housing properties. Private exterminators in the past have been brought in to authority buildings to sniff out potential bedbug infestations, officials said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on its website says bedbugs are a nuisance and are not considered dangerous but can cause painful or itchy welts.

Washowich said a similar bedbug outbreak impacted residents at the authority-owned Hempfield Manor high-rise this year, but that has since been eradicated.

Residents at Jeannette Manor have dealt with bedbug outbreaks in the past, including an infestation in 2021 that required to the authority to spend about $94,000 to have a private exterminator come in and rid the building of the bugs.

Trent said the current infestation has potentially put her 65-year-old father’s health at risk as he recovers from a recent surgery.

“Everyone is tired of living like this,” Trent said.

Trouble at Troutman’s

Meanwhile, the authority continues to assess damage reports in connection to a water line break that flooded the basement of the Troutman’s Building last weekend in downtown Greensburg.

The authority-owned former department store was renovated two decades ago and contains 24 apartments for senior citizens and Westmoreland County’s Area Agency on Aging offices.

Washowich said a pipe in the building’s basement ruptured, resulting in the accumulation of as much as 12 feet of water before the break was discovered.

No damage was reported in the apartments or offices. Washowich said the basement served as a storage area for excess furniture and other supplies.

Water service to the building was disrupted for several hours this week as work crews made repairs to an outside water line, Washowich said.

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