A sewage backup, a failed septic system, used needles or rodent droppings in a Poulsbo home, rental or business is cleaned up by an independent biohazard cleanup company that the owner or manager hires directly. First, keep people and pets away and do not sweep, vacuum or wipe it up yourself. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company; we do not do the cleanup, and the company you hire is responsible for the work.
Finding this in your home, a rental or a vacant building you manage is stressful, and it is normal not to know where to start.
What this service covers
A biohazard is a biological material, such as sewage, blood or animal waste, that can carry germs that make people sick. This page covers contamination not tied to a death or a crime: sewage backups and septic failures, needles and other sharps, rodent droppings and nests, and contaminated material left in rentals, vacant properties and businesses. Sharps are items that can puncture skin; Washington’s definition of sharps waste includes hypodermic needles, syringes or IV tubing with needles attached, scalpel blades, and lancets removed from their original sterile package.
Ordinary cleaning falls short because a mop, broom or household vacuum can spread germs instead of removing them. Porous materials, meaning things that soak up liquid such as carpet, drywall and upholstered furniture, can hold contamination below the surface. The Washington State Department of Health1 (DOH) says to hire a cleaning professional when a moldy area has been contaminated by sewage, and not to paint or caulk over mold.
Rodent droppings and hantavirus
If you have found droppings or nests, leave them where they are for now. DOH2 says infected deer mice can shed hantavirus in urine, saliva and droppings, and that people are at risk in any part of Washington. The risk comes from breathing dust stirred up while disturbing or cleaning droppings or nests, so DOH warns against vacuuming or sweeping. When you talk with a company, ask how its crew will keep dust down and what breathing protection they will wear, since DOH notes a dust mask does not protect against viruses.
What to do first
- Keep everyone out of the affected area and close the door if you can.
- Do not pick up needles or syringes with bare hands; the Kitsap Public Health District3 (KPHD) publishes guidance called Safely Handling Sharps.
- If you rent, do not throw damaged belongings away yet; the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) says the insurer may want to inspect them.
- Take photos from a safe distance for your records.
If someone has died at the property, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County, and the unattended death cleanup page explains that path. A former drug lab is a separate job in Washington, because clandestine drug lab decontamination workers, supervisors and contractors must be certified through DOH’s Drug Lab Cleanup Program.
How the cleanup process works
Ask the company to explain each stage before work begins:
- Assessment. The company inspects how far contamination has spread and writes a scope of work, which you can ask to see in writing.
- Protective equipment. The crew wears gear such as gloves, eye protection and breathing protection.
- Containment. Containment means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread.
- Removal. Porous materials that cannot be cleaned are cut out and bagged; ask for a list first so you or your insurer can review it.
- Cleaning and disinfection. Disinfection means applying a product that kills germs on surfaces once visible material is gone.
- Odor and drying. Odor work comes after the source is removed (odor remediation in Poulsbo). Sewage cleanup overlaps with water damage restoration, which follows once the biohazard is gone (how biohazard cleanup fits with restoration).
- Records. Ask for photos, a written summary and disposal records for your insurer.
How the waste must leave the property
Biomedical waste is a legal category in Washington limited to listed types, such as discarded human blood and sharps waste. Under Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission4 (UTC) rules, a company that collects, transports and disposes of biomedical waste must keep an operating plan that holds that waste separate from other solid waste until treatment or disposal. Ask the company who will haul each kind of waste from your property. In Kitsap County, hauling biohazardous or biomedical waste is regulated by the UTC and KPHD3, and companies need UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit. KPHD posts a list called Permitted Solid Waste Companies in Kitsap County | 2026 that you can compare with the hauler the company names. If the company will haul site waste away in its own equipment, ask about the KPHD Site Restoration Hauler permit, which is separate from the biomedical waste hauling permit.
Checking the company you hire
Before hiring, ask the company how it follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, which applies to workers exposed on the job to blood and other potentially infectious materials, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the IICRC (the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification, a non-profit for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries). You can also look the business up in the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and the certifications guide explains what each of these means.
Insurance questions for owners and landlords
The OIC says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. Coverage depends on your policy: the OIC says most homeowner policies don’t cover gradual leaks, and many offer only limited mold coverage, and only when the mold results from a covered loss. The OIC also says homeowners have the right to choose their own contractor for covered repairs, and warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights, so read any form before you sign. Landlords should know that, according to the OIC, a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property.
Usually covered: If your home is on a sewer system, sewer backup coverage can be added to a home policy as an optional endorsement, says the Insurance Commissioner’s flood insurance page5.
Usually not covered: A standard home policy does not cover sewer backup, but it can be added as an optional endorsement, says the Insurance Commissioner’s flood insurance page5. If you rent, your landlord’s or property management company’s policy covers the building but not your belongings, says the Commissioner’s renter insurance page.
Ask your insurer: “Does my policy include a sewer backup endorsement, and does it cover this backup?” Source: Learn how home insurance works (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)
Poulsbo and Kitsap County: who handles what
The Kitsap Public Health District3 can be reached at 360-728-2235 or online, including through its Report a Public Health Concern page. For a failed septic system, start with its Drinking Water & Onsite Sewage program and Ordinance 2025-01 : Onsite Sewage System and General Sewage Sanitation Regulations.
Poulsbo is an incorporated city, so for a building on Front Street beside American Legion Park or anywhere else in town, code enforcement sits with the Planning and Economic Development Department and the Police Department. Companies serving Poulsbo may travel across the Hood Canal Bridge, a floating bridge over saltwater, or the Agate Pass Bridge on SR 305, Bainbridge Island’s road link to the Kitsap Peninsula, so ask where a company is based and when it can reach the property.
For other services, see biohazard and trauma cleanup in Poulsbo or the Kitsap County overview. If contamination is in a home where the person living there has kept many belongings, see hoarding cleanup in Poulsbo.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- Kitsap County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Kitsap Public Health District (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Kitsap Public Health: permitted waste haulers (opens in a new tab)Cleanup companies that haul away waste here need this permit.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.