Aurora first to approve use of new ash borer treatment

YorkRegion.com
June 11, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

Aurora is the first community in Ontario to approve the use of a new treatment to control the emerald ash borer.

The town has waged a war against the invasive beetle that threatens the local ash tree population and, if left untreated, could disintegrate the province’s ash tree population.

However, a new treatment that has shown promise in the United States has just been approved for use by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency; a less costly method than the current treatment being used.

“I like to be the first for things,” Councillor Sandra Humfryes said during a discussion about a staff report requesting the approval to use the new treatment. “But I’m not quite sure about this one, though.”

In May 2012, council approved a bi-annual application of TreeAzin to help control the spread of the beetle and, to date, 2,073 trees lon municipal property have been treated. The second round of treatment is to be administered this summer, wrapping up in the summer of 2016.

While town staff continues to monitor the treated trees, by the end of 2014, it was apparent the beetle population had increased and infestations spread to more trees.

It is now recommended the treatment be applied annually, which would be extremely costly - $212,000 per year - for the town and outweigh the cost of removing and replacing the ash trees with another species, according to Aurora parks manager Jim Tree.

But the new treatment, IMA-JET, would cut that cost to nearly half at $114,000 a year.

“There is no magic bullet when it comes to (this pest),” Tree said. “We are collecting information now to see what is working and what isn’t with TreeAzin but, this way, we will have a backup if need be.”

The new treatment is classified as a class 9 pesticide but is an exception under the pesticide ban, due to its specific use.

Unlike the non-chemical product being used now, IMA-JET is a chemical compound, which is highly toxic to the beetle larvae.

Council gave the green light to staff to conduct an assessment of ash trees that have received the first treatment of TreeAzin with a full report expected in the fall and to use IMA-JET as an additional alternative control measure once it meets all the requirements and approvals in the Pesticides Act.