Department of Agriculture Begins Next Phase of Tukwila Beetle Project: Tree Injection.

News Editors

OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2002

Washington State Department of Agriculture:

Media Event/Demonstration: Thursday, July 25, the state Department of Agriculture will host a demonstration of a chemical treatment known as tree injection. The 10 a.m. demonstration is a precursor to the treatment of 1,000 trees located in the Tukwila/Beetle quarantine zone. Interested media should gather at 9:45 a.m. near the corner of 144th Street South and South Macadam Road, Tukwila.

Three weeks after initiating the Tukwila tree-removal project, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) and its contractor have removed nearly all 1,000 host trees within a one-eighth mile radius of the Citrus Longhorned Beetle (CLHB) introduction and escape site.

The next phase of the beetle eradication project begins Friday, July 26 when trees located within a one-quarter mile radius of the site will be treated by injection with the insecticide imidacloprid.

Chemical tree-injection has been a successful component of eradication programs for the Asian Longhorned Beetle, a pest similar to Washington's beetle, that in the past decade has infested thousands of trees in Chicago and New York. Once injected directly into the base of a tree, the chemical is absorbed into the circulatory system. Imidacloprid kills adult beetles that feed on foliage, twigs and branches, thus reducing or preventing egg laying. The insecticide may also prevent new infestations by killing newly hatched larvae as they migrate into trees.

Monday, Eden Advanced Pest Technologies of Olympia was awarded the chemical treatment contract. In advance of tree injections on private property, WSDA project staff plan to visit each resident, and distribute a fact sheet describing the process and purpose of the treatment. The tree-injection phase is expected to take two to three weeks during which time state and federal agriculture personnel will monitor the chemical applications.

The following is an update on other beetle eradication activities:

-- Tree removal nearly complete. Except for host trees located on three private properties, all other host trees within one-eighth mile radius of the beetle introduction site (near 144th Street S. and S. Macadam Road) have been cut, and many have been chipped. A tub grinder (super-sized chipping machine) has been brought to the site to chip tree stumps and larger tree trunks.

-- Administrative warrants sought. During the week of July 15, the WSDA filed a petition with King County Superior Court seeking administrative warrants to enter three private properties to carry out the eradication project. The three residents, who live on the eastside of I-5, received a notice of the (petition) hearing scheduled for Friday, July 26.

-- Petition filed with Supreme Court. Owners of one property denied WSDA and its contractor entry onto their property and filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the Washington State Supreme Court last week. Yesterday, the Supreme Court Commissioner transferred the matter to King County Superior Court for a decision.

Background information is available at http://www.wa.gov/agr/CitrusLHBeetle.htm