Emerald Ash Borer found in Bloomingdale

From the Chicago Breaking News Center-

The Bloomingdale forestry staff has discovered evidence of emerald ash borer beetle infestation within the village while performing routine tree maintenance, officials announced Friday.

During trimming maintenance on Feb. 17, certified arborists working with the village confirmed the presence of the destructive beetles in parkway trees on Springfield Drive between Army Trail Road and Butterfield Drive near the Stratford Square Mall. The Department of Agriculture inspected and confirmed the discovery the next day.

Director of Village Services Mike Marchi said that tree trimming in mid-winter was "part of the village's normal maintenance schedule" and that there was nothing unusual or surprising about finding evidence of the ash borer this time of year.

"I think you'll find that a lot of villages in the area do maintenance as part of their regular routine as well as for safety issues, so dead branches laden with snow don't fall on people," Marchi said. "We were lucky to find the evidence, which was small 3- to 4-millimeter D-shaped exit holes left by the adult beetles when they emerged from under the bark."

Marchi said other signs of the ash infestation have been found in the past two years along Swift Road, which runs through Bloomingdale, and also along the North Avenue corridor. He said that "despite the fact that the public doesn't want to hear it" the infestation was virtually inevitable.

"Ash trees comprise nearly 25 percent of the total village-owned public tree inventory, and we have no idea at this point how many are affected on village and public property," he said. "At this point, there are no known effective insecticidal eradication treatments."

The emerald ash borer beetle is indigenous to Asia. It bores into ash trees and lays eggs. The larvae disrupt the way a tree sends water to its branches.

Residents with ash trees are encouraged to inspect their own property. Those who suspect they have found an adult or larval form of this insect are asked to freeze it and bring it to the Village of Bloomingdale's public works facility, 305 Glen Ellyn Road, or contact the Public Works Department at 630-671-5800 or the Illinois Department of Agriculture toll-free hotline 1-800-641-3934.

--David Sharos