Cities continue costly ash borer beetle battle

therecord.com
April 29, 2015
Paige Desmond

The City of Waterloo is in the second year of a decade-long planned battle with emerald ash borer at a cost of more than $3.6 million.

Ward 1 Southwest and Ward 3 Lakeshore are home to nearly half the city's 5,188 known ash trees, according to a staff report. Wards 1 and 4 had the most removals last year and early this year - about 213 trees.

Ward 3 Coun. Angela Vieth said it's difficult to see trees cut down, but the city doesn't have much choice.

"The majority of citizens love trees and try to best preserve them as much as we can," she said.

The emerald ash borer was confirmed in Cambridge and Kitchener in 2010 and in Waterloo in 2011.

The pest is metallic green in colour, about half-inch long, and an eighth of an inch wide. It multiplies quickly and was introduced to the U.S. from Asia via wood cargo crates. The first infestation was detected in Michigan in 2002.

Ward 1 Coun. Bob Mavin said he hears from residents about the beetle.

"Most of the calls are just looking for information," he said. "When their trees are cut down, they're automatically wondering when they're going to be replaced, what they're going to be replaced with."

Waterloo's plan includes cutting down infected trees, replanting different species and injecting noninfected trees with an insecticide call TreeAzin to prevent new infection.

Mavin said staff are open to suggestions on what species replacement trees should be, and said the city would appreciate if residents can help with watering.

The injection program focuses on heritage trees.

"The game plan is not all of them will survive, but hopefully a large chunk of them will," Mavin said.

The first applications were in Waterloo Park in 2011 and along Dick Street and Peppler Street where the oldest ash trees in the city are located.

Vieth said she supports doing the injections as long as staff are being selective.

"That's a tough one because I'm all for saving heritage trees and I think we should save them, but eventually, trees have a lifespan and I trust that staff are insecticiding the trees that are healthy," she said.

TreeAzin injection can cost up to $1,000 per tree, with a tree 30 centimetres in diameter costing about $175.

The injections aren't a permanent solution. Staff plan to start replanting in areas that are heavy with ash trees and phase them out over time.

In the next two years or so staff will be focusing on ash trees in wards 1, 2, 4 and 5.

In the next five to seven years street trees will be prioritized and in seven to 10 years street trees, parks and woodlots will be focused on.

Residents who have ash trees on their properties are responsible for dealing with them and the cost of doing so.

Waterloo isn't alone in its battle with the beetle.

Cambridge has budgeted about $500,000 this year to deal with emerald ash borer. It's estimated about eight per cent of trees along Cambridge streets are ash.

In Kitchener, about 1,100 ash trees were removed by the city last winter. The borer is expected to kill more than 5,000 of the 6,428 ash trees in the city.

Kitchener officials expect to spend more than $10 million dealing with the ash borer, including about $4.3 million for injections and removals plus about $6.75 million for stumping and replanting.

The Grand River Conservation Authority plans to spend about $400,000 this year to deal with emerald ash borer. About 200 trees will be injected to fend off the pest. About $10 million is expected to be spent over 10 years.