How many complaints against Terminix have been filed in West Virginia? How does the State of West Virginia rate as a public agency in providing information to the public and in their own knowledge of the pest control companies they authorize to spray toxic chemicals in homes?

The following questions were sent via e-mail on February 28, 1999, to the State of West Virginia, Department of Agriculture. On March 2, the answers shown below were provided via e-mail by Grant Bishop, Compliance Manager, WVDA Pesticide Regulatory Programs.

1. What is the name and address of West Virginia’s pest inspection/pest control licensing and regulating agency?

Our unit is the regulating agency for Terminix:

West Virginia Department of Agriculture
Pesticide Regulatory Programs
1900 Kanawha Boulevard, East
Charleston, WV 25302
(304) 558-2209(304)
558-2228 (Fax)

2. How many years does West Virginia’s licensing and regulating agency maintain records of complaints against pest control/pest inspection companies?

We keep copies of cases on file for approximately five years.

3. How many Terminix branches are currently operating in West Virginia? (My records, taken from the Yellow Pages on the Internet, indicate there are currently 14 Terminix, aka Terminix International, aka Terminix of Northern West Virginia branches operating in West Virginia.)

We currently have 8 Terminix licensed pesticide application businesses.

4. Does each Terminix branch in West Virginia operate under a separate license or do all the Terminix branches operate under one license?

Unanswered.

5. How many complaints, if any, have been filed in West Virginia against Terminix International (and its aka’s); including the nature of the complaints, name and location of Terminix branch involved; and disposition of complaints (dismissed, settled, fine, suspended or revoked license, probation, etc.)?

Unanswered:

We currently do not have a database system that could supply the information that you have requested but we do have a file on each branch that contains copies of the Case File Summary’s. As you mentioned, all the files that we have are public information and I would be glad to assist you with any information from them that you would need.

I already stated what I needed.  The question remains:

How many complaints have been filed in West Virginia against Terminix?

When renewing licenses, is it totally irrelevant how many complaints have been filed against a company using toxic chemicals, or does the State of West Virginia review the copies of the “Case File Summary’s” every time, or is it irrelevant information?