D.C. health officials inspected the Occupy DC camp at McPherson Square on Tuesday following complaints from residents and businesses about an increase in rats around the area. Department of Health officials said they were checking on the welfare of the protesters camped in the park as the weather turned frigid and will return Thursday for a full-blown inspection of the camp’s kitchen.
Occupiers shut down the kitchen at McPherson Square following the Health Department’s visit and hope to reopen it following Thursday’s inspection.
The inspections were ordered by Mayor Vincent Gray, who will receive on Friday a report back from the Health Department about conditions in the McPherson Square camp and a second Occupy DC encampment at Freedom Plaza.
Health officials said they had no immediate count of the number of complaints the city has received about rats and other rodents in the area. Some Occupiers said inspectors told them that Tuesday’s inspection was part of a larger effort to curb a citywide rat problem. Health Department officials wouldn’t confirm that.
District officials have been supportive of the Occupy protesters, and the D.C. encampments are among the last major camps still in place from the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement that sprang up three months ago. It’s not clear whether the recent inspections could lead to drastic changes at the campsite or the expulsion of Occupiers.
But Gray and others have expressed impatience with the protesters as well, particularly after an Occupier was recently charged with assaulting a police officer.
“Mayor Gray and [Health Department Director Mohammad Akhter] feel the protesters have a right to be there, but our primary concern is the safety of District residents,” Health Department spokeswoman Najma Roberts said. “After the assessment is done on Thursday, there would be some additional recommendations made and then we’ll move forward.”
After the Health Department’s visit, Occupiers at McPherson Square decided voluntarily to close their kitchen for the next 48 hours and clean it. They’re planning to store food more securely and distribute it more efficiently, they said.
U.S. Park Police on Tuesday removed two structures from the McPherson Square encampment, a stage and a tent partially built from wooden pallets, protesters said.
Following the visits from police and health officials, Occupiers began a large-scale cleanup operation Tuesday, removing wooden pallets and other materials from tents and piling them in a corner of the square for removal.
