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Bugs Shut Johns Pass Shops

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

Updated: 12/03/2007 12:09 pm

Photos: Workers Begin Tenting The Buildings
Video: Businesses Prepare For Termite Extermination
Previous Coverage: Tides Of Change Wash Johns Pass

MADEIRA BEACH - How bad has the termite problem been in a stretch of quaint shops stretching along Village Boulevard in historical Johns Pass?

It's been so bad that at Florida Forever, a T-shirt store catering to tourists, the staff has found larvae in the shirts. They have had to violently shake the T-shirts free of the pests before putting the merchandise in bags for customers, said Keith Leibring, owner of the business.

That major inconvenience should come to an end this week now that Leibring's business, along with 42 others, are being tented in a single pesticide operation that is the largest of its kind in recent memory in these parts.

The operation began in earnest this morning as a crew of roughly 16 men and women began securing the tenting.

How massive is the operation? St. Pete Termite, the company contracted to do the job, brought in cranes Friday to drop the blue-and-yellow tenting on the roofs of the interconnected buildings, which stretch 780 feet from one end of Village Boulevard to another and comprise 1.3 million cubic feet of space.

At least six 125-pound tanks of Vikane, the commercial name for the chemical compound sulfuryl fluoride, are expected to be used, said Allen Kline, who's in charge of the operation.

"There are millions of termites being slaughtered in there this afternoon," Thomas Powers said with a smile on his face as he stood across the street, waiting for his particular building to be tented.

Powers, who operates two businesses in his building, said all the businesses had to agree to shut down from Monday through Wednesday so the termites could be exterminated. One reason everyone agreed is that the first week of December is typically one of the slowest business periods on the beach as most shoppers are at the mall doing their holiday shopping.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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