MILWAUKEE (June 20, 2024) — Fifty-five technicians at the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) Pest Management Unit are now trained in the use of IGI Carbon Dioxide™ (CO₂) Powered by Liphatech. IGI CO₂ is an alternative solution registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for controlling burrowing rodents in municipal areas, including next to occupied buildings.
This collaborative partnership between NYCHA and Liphatech Inc. was strategically initiated and coordinated with New York City Director of Rodent Mitigation Kathleen Corradi (also known as the ‘rat czar’) and Edwin Arroyo, program manager for NYCHA’s Pest Management Unit. In alignment with NYCHA’s Integrated Pest Management initiatives, the proactive effort kicks off the use of another tool to help the city strategically implement aggressive rodent control.
“More than just a pillar area of the 2019 HUD Agreement, pests represent a significant challenge in NYCHA’s mission to provide decent, affordable housing to public housing residents,” said NYCHA Vice President of Pest Management Josephine Bartlett. “We are investing in more efficient equipment and are using more effective methods to address pests across the portfolio. We remain extremely dedicated to addressing pest concerns at NYCHA developments, and ultimately improving the quality of our residents’ lives.”
A technical team from Liphatech, the provider of IGI CO₂ and a leading manufacturer of rodent control products, recently led and completed the three-day training with the technicians. It included classroom pest management continuing education units (CEUs) and in-the-field live training with the IGI CO₂ system, with technicians treating active rodent burrows at a NYCHA development.
Liphatech’s IGI CO₂ gas is approved for use in municipal, residential, commercial and field settings. It is non-flammable, invisible and odorless and is an effective solution that works quietly underground to get rid of harmful rodents by treating the burrows where they live.
“Every NYCHA technician was trained with the IGI CO₂ system. The response to the system was overwhelmingly positive and the efficacy was apparent when a return visit to the site showed a significant reduction in rodent activity around the burrows we treated,” said Barry Pitkoff, Liphatech’s Northeast technical manager in the U.S.
To learn more about controlling rodents with IGI CO₂, visit liphatech.com/RodentFreeNewYork. For more information about pest control at NYCHA, visit: https://www.nyc.gov/site/nycha/residents/pest-control.page.
About NYCHA
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the largest public housing authority in North America, was created in 1935 to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers. NYCHA is home to 1 in 17 New Yorkers, providing affordable housing to 528,105 authorized residents through public housing and Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) programs as well as Section 8 housing. NYCHA has 177,569 apartments in 2,411 buildings across 335 conventional public housing and PACT developments. In addition, NYCHA connects residents to critical programs and services from external and internal partners, with a focus on economic opportunity, youth, seniors, and social services. With a housing stock that spans all five boroughs, NYCHA is a city within a city.
