Emerald Ash Borer Detection May Lead to Quarantine

An invasive beetle found in several communities across New Haven County, including Bethany, Now the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) will hold a public hearing next Wednesday to decide whether to institute a quarantine across the county in response to the troublesome insect.

The emerald ash borer has turned up in Bethany, Naugatuck, Prospect and Beacon Falls. The beetle is native to Asia, and first turned up in North America around 2002; it has spread from Michigan to at least 16 states. It limits its attacks to ash trees, and can destroy an entire canopy within 2 years.

Director Louis Magnarelli intends to impose the quarantine following the state-required public hearing, according to a release from CAES and the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

"We expected to find the beetle in areas of Connecticut across from infestations in Dutchess County, New York; however, the EAB has great flight potential and can travel in infested wood moved by people. This pest attacks all species of ash trees," Magnarelli said in a previously released statement.

The quarantine would limit the transport of all ash logs, ash materials, ash nursery stock and hardwood firewood to and from New Haven County. The public hearing will be held Wednesday, August 8, at the Prospect Firehouse at 26 New Haven Road (Route 69) in Prospect.

For more information about the Emerald Ash Borer, see the informational website set up by the USDA Forest Service, Michigan State University, Purdue University and Ohio University.