By Haley ED Houseman

According to some residents, rats are chewing their way into supposedly “rodent-proof” trash containers.

As construction projects move forward in expectation of the Green Line Extension project eventually coming to Somerville, neighbors in the Union Square neighborhood are purportedly engaged in a battle against rats.

Complaints of increased rodent activity have cropped up in the neighborhoods surrounding Union Square following the demolition of a series of buildings. The site of the former Boys and Girls Club on Washington Street, as well as long standing Cota Funeral Home, was demolished in order to make way for a planned mix of development as part of the plans for the Union Square area. The area will include affordable housing commercial spaces and market-rate condos.

Patty O’Leary, living nearby but not adjacent to the development, has been combatting the rodent issue. According to her, rats have become a regular feature of her formerly suburban community. She has reached out to the Health Department and the Mayor’s Office since the demolition concluded last fall. She complains that there has not been a robust enough response, despite a city inspector’s repeated visits to the area in the past year. She notes she has no knowledge of the inspector returning to follow-up after conducting inspections that included setting traps. O’Leary feels that rodent activity has increased enormously in the past few weeks.

City inspector Chris Roche has been working on the sites in the area. Of the four reported incidents in the past two years associated with the development, all but one were minor issues that Roche noted were cleared up. Roche explains that there is a series of steps developers must follow, including submitting a plan for abatement to inspection services. While the city will set traps for rats, they also recommend using private exterminators for more chronic issues if the inspector is unable to resolve the rodent problem.

Another local rat problem is in the hands of Dave Bryson, a neighbor to O’Leary, who explained the rodent damage to his newly planted lawn shortly after the final stages of demolition in the fall. His household had just landscaped on his property this past spring, only to have it destroyed in the fall. “The rats have dug tunnels under the lawn in about 6 or 7 locations throughout the lawn and garden. We spent several thousand dollars this spring having a landscaper re-sod the whole yard. Now it has holes all over it.” He also pointed out that droppings have become a problem.

Despite repeatedly placing baited rattrap boxes and gas bombs on the property to remove the pests, he has been unable to remove them. Despite being in touch with the Somerville Health Department and the placement of the city’s bait boxes by an inspector, the rats continue to plague the neighborhood. According to Bryson, “The rats have taken over the garage, including boring through the cinder block walls for entry.”

Bryson is skeptical of the abatement process the city and developers claim to have implemented. “I know that contractors are required to do abatement on buildings before they are demolished,” he said. “Someone from the city has to sign off that this work was done. I would be interested in knowing who signed off on the 197 Washington St. project.”