A sewage backup, a failed septic system, used needles or a buildup of rodent droppings in Silverdale is cleaned up by an independent biohazard or restoration company that the homeowner, landlord or property manager hires directly. The first step is to keep people and pets away and leave the cleanup to that company. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company; it does not do the work.
Finding this in a home, a rental or a business is upsetting, and this page explains what the work involves and what to do first.
What this service covers
A biohazard is any material that can carry germs able to make people sick. This page covers biohazards not tied to a death or a crime: sewage backups, failed septic systems, needles and other sharps, rodent droppings and nests, and contaminated material left in rentals, vacant properties and businesses. If you found blood after an injury or a death, see blood and bodily fluid cleanup or unattended death cleanup.
Why ordinary cleaning is not enough
Sewage soaks into porous materials, meaning things like carpet pad, drywall and upholstery that absorb liquid and cannot be cleaned from the surface alone. The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) says on its Mold page to hire a cleaning professional if a moldy area has been contaminated by sewage.
Rodent droppings carry a different risk. DOH1’s Hantavirus page says infected deer mice live throughout the state and that people can be exposed by breathing dust stirred up while cleaning droppings or nests. Since the age of a dropping can’t be told, DOH says to treat them all as infectious, and it notes that a dust mask does not protect against viruses.
What to do first
- Keep people out. Close off the area and keep children and pets away.
- Stop adding water. During a backup, avoid flushing or running drains on the same line.
- Leave droppings alone. DOH says not to stir up dust by vacuuming or sweeping.
- Do not pick up needles bare-handed. Sharps are needles, syringes, lancets and blades that can puncture skin; Kitsap Public Health District2 (KPHD) offers guidance called Safely Handling Sharps.
- Keep damaged items for now. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) tells renters not to throw damaged things away yet, because the insurer may want to inspect them.
For a failing septic system, KPHD2’s Drinking Water & Onsite Sewage program covers on-site sewage systems, which treat household wastewater on the property instead of sending it to a public sewer. The district’s rules are in Ordinance 2025-01 : Onsite Sewage System and General Sewage Sanitation Regulations, and you can reach Kitsap Public Health District at 360-728-2235. If the contamination is connected to a death, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County, and cleanup waits until the scene is released.
What the company you hire does
Ask the company to explain each step before work begins.
- Protective equipment. Workers wear gloves, eye protection and breathing protection. With needles, the concern includes bloodborne pathogens, which are germs carried in blood that can cause disease.
- Containment. This means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread to clean rooms.
- Removal. Soaked porous materials are cut out and bagged rather than cleaned in place.
- Disinfection. After visible material is removed, surfaces are treated with products that kill germs.
- Odor. Odor work comes after the source is gone; see odor remediation in Silverdale.
- Drying and repairs. Sewage cleanup overlaps with water damage restoration, and drying and rebuilding can follow once the biohazard is removed. How biohazard cleanup fits with restoration explains the handoff.
- Records. Ask for photos, a written scope of work and a list of what was removed, for your insurer.
Insurance questions to raise
The OIC3 says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim, and that most homeowner policies don’t cover gradual leaks. You have the right to choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and the OIC warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights, so read any such form carefully first.
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 page4.
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 page4. 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 page5.
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)
How to check a company
Ask any company you are considering how its work follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit for the cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look up the business on the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool, Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and the certifications guide explains what the results mean.
How the waste must leave the property
Getting material off the property is part of the process, and the rules depend on what it is. Washington’s legal definition of biomedical waste is limited to the types listed in RCW 70A.228.010, which include sharps waste such as needles and syringes, and discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood. Ask the company which materials from your property fall under that definition.
In Kitsap County, hauling biohazardous or biomedical waste is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and KPHD2, and a hauler needs UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit. Ask the company who will haul the waste, then look for that name on the district’s list, Permitted Solid Waste Companies in Kitsap County | 2026. A separate KPHD Site Restoration Hauler permit applies when a cleanup company hauls site waste away in its own equipment, and it is not the biomedical waste hauling permit.
Under state rules, a company that collects, transports and disposes of biomedical waste must keep an operating plan that holds that waste apart from other solid waste and lets only authorized people handle it. For other items, KPHD2’s Solid & Hazardous Waste program and its Waste Handling A to Z page are places to look. A former illegal drug lab is a separate job in Washington, and its decontamination must be done by workers and contractors certified through DOH’s Drug Lab Cleanup Program.
Sewage and biohazard cleanup in Silverdale
Silverdale is an unincorporated community, so property code complaints go to the Department of Community Development, which takes code complaints about property in unincorporated Kitsap County. That matters to a landlord or neighbor facing an ongoing sewage or rodent problem at another property. KPHD2 also offers a Report a Public Health Concern option and lists a Water Pollution Identification & Correction program among its sewage-related programs.
Whether the property is near Old Mill Park, the county park with saltwater beach access on Bucklin Hill Road, or near St. Michael Medical Center on NW Myhre Road, the steps above apply. If a company you contact is based across the Hood Canal Bridge, a floating bridge over saltwater, or on Bainbridge Island, whose road link to the Kitsap Peninsula is the Agate Pass Bridge on SR 305, ask how and when it can reach you. For more, see biohazard and trauma cleanup in Silverdale and biohazard and trauma cleanup in Kitsap County.
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.