LAX board approves big increase in pest control spending

The board that oversees Los Angeles International Airport approved a tenfold increase in pest control spending Thursday, adopting an approach that puts exterminators on LAX premises around the clock.

The seven-year, $5.2 million contract calls for Orkin Services of California to make a comprehensive attack on all sorts of insects, rodents and animals on airport property. Orkin employees would be on airport premises at all times, and even work at training tenants and others who work at the airport in pest control tactics.

The airlines and concessionaires that rent space in terminal buildings will pay part of the cost, and the rest will come from the airport’s general revenue generated by passenger ticket fees.

Previously, pest control was handled on an on-call basis and cost the airport about $70,000 per year. The new contract works out to about $750,000 each year. That's more in the league of what other large airports are spending.

Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport spends $445,000 per year, for example. The operator of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which has the nation's largest volume of passengers, declined to share contract information, but it does have pest control staff on site all the time, an airport spokesman said.

Airport tenants and concessionaires have generally arranged for their own pest control services. So have the construction companies overhauling major portions of the airport, activities that have put some rodent and pest populations on the move.

Before the vote, commissioner Matt Johnson asked about the huge cost increase: "Are we having a plague infestation here?"

"I think it's been neglected for a long time," said Steve Martin, Los Angeles World Airports chief operating officer. "You don't know if it's Airline X's pest, our pest, Concessionaire Y's pest, but you had all these separate programs without any unifying force."

Commissioner Jackie Goldberg questioned staffers about why their stated intention to pursue sustainable and environmentally friendly pest control had not translated into specific requirements in the contract. David Shuter, a deputy executive director for maintenance, said those elements were part of the airport's bid discussions and would be part of the operating rules for Orkin.