Cost of eradicating Asian beetle estimated at $24M in first year

(Michael Smith for The Boston Globe)

An Asian longhorned beetle feasting on a tree.

By John Dyer, Globe Correspondent

SHREWSBURY -- Eliminating Asian longhorned beetles in Worcester and surrounding towns could cost as much as $24 million in the first year of extermination alone, a price tag members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation are asking the federal government to pay.

Washington is asking the city and state to pay half the cost of eliminating the bugs, which threaten to kill thousands of maples, elms, and other common trees, according to a Sept. 4 letter sent by Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, and Congressman James McGovern, Democrat of Worcester, to US Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer.

But since Massachusetts officials did not cause the infestation, and the bugs could spread to forests throughout New England if they are not stopped, the federal government should fund 100 percent of eradication efforts, which could take several years, the lawmakers argued. The US Department of Agriculture set the preliminary cost of $24 million, according to the senators and representative in their letter.

"It transcends what cities and towns in the Commonwealth can afford," McGovern said. "It's a national issue."

The lawmakers also asked Schafer to consider less destructive methods of stopping the pests. In other infestations in the country, federal officials have cut down all trees susceptible to the bugs within a quarter-mile radius of infested trees. That strategy can strip entire neighborhoods of trees.

An Agriculture Department spokeswoman, Suzanne Bond, said it was too early to pin down the final cost of the extermination. In the past, the department has funded up to 64 percent of costs, she said.

The beetles were first found in Worcester on Aug. 8. Later, the area suspected of infestation was expanded to sections of Boylston, Holden, Shrewsbury, and West Boylston.

Actual numbers of beetles or trees affected are not available, but experts say there are 33 square miles of regulated areas, or land with trees in the area where they believe infestations are possible.

Worcester City Manager Michael O'Brien said the unplanned cost of handling the menace would put more pressure on city finances already spread thin.

"It would pit basic core services like police, fire, and teachers in the classroom against putting money aside to deal with beetle eradication," he said. "We have no choice but to continue providing those core services. But we have a bug here in Worcester that is very destructive."

Originating in China, the beetles bore holes and lay eggs in maples, birch, and other trees common to the Northeast. Their larvae feed on wood when they hatch, eventually killing their hosts. They have infested only a handful of other US communities.

The beetles are black with white dots and have bodies around an inch long, with antennae stretching up to 4 inches, experts said. They first came to the United States via infested wooden pallets and shipping crates.

Worcester and its neighbors were especially vulnerable, O'Brien said, because Norway maples line many local streets and neighborhoods.

"The generation before us took the time and had the care and consideration to make sure our streets were lined with trees," O'Brien said. "All of that has matured now into our quality of life."

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