A flaw in the drainage system on the Campus Recreation Center’s indoor pool deck has bred an infestation of hundreds of cockroaches festering under the building and crawling through the pools’ drains, three CRC lifeguards said.
CRC lifeguards have seen cockroaches attempting to crawl into the pool area through drains on the pool deck, and CRC officials once used a remote camera to look into the drain area, which revealed hundreds of cockroaches living in the drainage system, lifeguards said.
The Diamondback is not revealing the names of the lifeguards because they feared losing their jobs. Following questions from Diamondback reporters, CRC officials sent out an e-mail informing CRC lifeguards they were not allowed to talk to reporters or they would be fired.
“If you drop food on the ground, they’ll stick their little antennas up and grab the food,” one lifeguard said. Food is not allowed on the pool deck as a cockroach-prevention method, another lifeguard added.
Though the lifeguards said they find the situation revolting, CRC officials maintain there is not an infestation and a few pesky bugs are no problem.
“We are working to resolve any issues that we have, like we always do,” said Andrea Thompson, associate director of facilities for the CRC. “There’s really no issues at this point.”
Pest control management treats the pool facility every eight weeks, just as it treats areas on the campus such as the dorms, Thompson said.
“It’s not uncommon to have insects in the sewer drains,” she said.
Despite insistence there are no major issues, a portion of the drainage system is slated to be replaced in the near future, Thompson said. The new ProSet Trap Guard system includes a drain insert that seals the drains from materials beneath such as sewer gases, water backflow and insects.
“We’re doing some improvements, which we hope will reduce any kind of bug,” she said.
While she did not admit to knowing about an infestation, Thompson said she was not aware of whether it’s unusual to have a drainage system teeming with cockroaches.
According to state health officials, it is not a common problem.
“That is the most unusual problem I’ve ever heard about at a pool,” said Pam Engle, acting chief for the Division of Community Services at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Engle’s division is responsible for conducting annual inspections of the aquatic facilities at the university.
Though the pool is specifically inspected for issues such as water quality, the state department does not check the drains unless a specific complaint is filed, Engle said. General regulations state the pool area must be kept in a safe, clean and orderly condition.
State officials believe the cockroach colony is a health violation that has so far gone unreported.
“When you have an infestation occurring, it’s no longer healthy or clean,” Engle said. If a complaint is officially filed, inspectors can visit the university pool and tell CRC officials to “implement adequate controls,” she said.
Contact reporter Sara Murray at murraydbk@gmail.com
