The state Department of Conservation and Recreation has added parts of Shrewsbury and Boylston to the regulated area designed to head off an infestation of Asian longhorned beetles initially found in the Greendale section of Worcester earlier this month.
None of the treacherous tree killers has been found in the two towns, but because the latest beetles were located in trees in Worcester close to Shrewsbury and Boylston, the state yesterday further expanded the regulated area into Shrewsbury and Boylston. The regulated area was first expanded beyond the Greendale area into parts of West Boylston and Holden last week.
Local and state officials stressed that no actual beetles have been located in the four towns, but new discoveries in Worcester prompted expansion of the regulated area outside the city.
As a precaution, Shrewsbury�s popular Saturday yard waste drop-off program is suspended until further notice, it was announced yesterday.
To prevent the spread of infestation, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is prohibiting residents and businesses from transferring live beetles and yard waste, including branches, leaves, firewood, logs, stumps, roots and green lumber, from within the regulated area to outside the area, which is where Shrewsbury�s South Street yard waste drop-off site is located.
Worcester City Manager Michael V. O�Brien said yesterday that in the interim, the city is allowing people who live within regulated areas in West Boylston, Holden, Boylston and Shrewsbury to bring tree limbs and other wood products to the city�s designated drop-off site within the regulated area, on Clark Street. Grass clippings and other yard waste will not be accepted.
The Clark Street site is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. He said the city is being as supportive as it can to the towns that have been placed within the regulated area.
The Clark Street drop-off site is for residents only. Mr. O�Brien said the city administration is working on establishing a site within the regulated areas for businesses as soon as possible. But for now, businesses that handle yard waste within the regulated areas are required to keep it on site or grind it on site, as long as the wood is chipped to less than 1 inch by 1 inch, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent to local businesses that might deal with trees or yard waste.
Mr. O�Brien said he thought it was important to note that the infestations are not spreading rapidly across the area, but rather the discovery of infestations keeps pushing the regulated area outward. �They haven�t jumped geographically,� he said of the shiny black beetles that USDA officials say tend to stay on the tree where they are born, although they are capable of flying one and a half miles.
Infestation of the 1- to 1-1/2-inch bullet-shaped bug with white spots and long black and white antennas in Worcester was announced two weeks ago. Native to China, they are harmless to humans and pets, but they bore into deciduous hardwood trees, causing them to wither and die if the beetles are undetected.
Since their discovery in the United States in 1996, the invasive beetles have prompted the removal of tens of thousands of trees in New York, New Jersey and Illinois and the expenditure of $269 million by state and federal agencies.
Shrewsbury Town Manager Daniel J. Morgado said the reason Shrewsbury is now in the regulated area is because portions of the town, as well as portions of West Boylston, Holden and Boylston, are within a mile and a half of infested trees in Worcester.
The portion of Shrewsbury in the regulated area is land along the north side of Route 9, from the Lake Quinsigamond bridge to Maple Avenue, extending north along Maple Avenue to Route 140 (on the west side of Route 140 only, north of Main Street and west of Boylston Street).
�We can�t take material from inside the regulated zone outside the regulated zone. Our fear is if there is any contaminated material, we would be expanding that contamination,� Mr. Morgado said. Residents should watch the town�s Web site, www.shrewsbury-ma.gov, for updates, he said.
Meanwhile, a public meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. today in Quinsigamond Community College�s Hebert Auditorium, 670 West Boylston St., Worcester. Municipal, state and federal officials will make presentations and answer questions. Mr. Morgado said Shrewsbury is considering hosting its own public forum early next week.
Mr. O�Brien said residents have been cooperative and helpful throughout the process, and said he hopes that cooperation continues. Suzanne Bond, a spokeswoman for the USDA, said that as officials start to fan out into the city to do tree-by-tree searches at the end of the month, residents should not be surprised to see USDA officials inspecting trees on their property.
Mr. Morgado said federal officials are establishing a survey team to inspect all trees susceptible to hosting the beetles in the delineated area. Anyone who sees an Asian longhorned beetle can report it by filling out a form at www.shrewsbury-ma.gov or www.massnrc.org/pests or by calling (508) 799-8330.
Steven H. Foskett Jr. of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.