Groundhogs Overrun Neighborhood, Halt Pitt Project
PITTSBURGH (NewsRadio 1020 KDKA) - Dozens of groundhogs in upper Oakland have frustrated neighbors and forced the temporary halt of an athletic field renovation project at the University of Pittsburgh.
The groundhogs have been there for years, but when Pitt started replacing the turf on Trees Field this week, Schenley Heights residents say it sent the critters scrambling into their neighborhood.
Chuck Knoles, a 26-year resident of Allequippa Street, talked with KDKA's Joe DeStio about the problem.
According to Knoles, a community relations representative for the city said he had been in contact with the university.
Knoles said he was told that, "It was their intention that they were going to stop construction. That there was miscommunication between the contractor and the subcontractor. They hadn't really contracted an exterminator yet to finalize how they were going to remove the groundhogs, but they were going to stop construction until that happened."
Knoles says neighbors warned Pitt officials before the project started.