MONTREAL – Those beetles known as Emerald Ash Borers are back, plaguing several cities in and around Montreal with a growing infestation.
While experts are saying it is an environmental problem, many residents are feeling like they’re being left to fend off the beetles themselves.
“It worries me because I don’t want the trees to be cut down first of all, it provides shade, it’s beautiful trees and it’s good for the environment” says Mary Ann D’Errico, a Greenfield Park resident.
After spotting signs of Emerald Ash Borer on both her trees, D’Errico called the City and was told she could either treat them or have them cut down by a private contractor.
“It’s about $400 a tree to get trees treated and if I don’t treat them then it’ll probably cost about $2,000 to get them cut down,” said the 38-year-old homeowner.
Hundreds and possibly thousands of emerald ash trees on the south shore are dying.
“It’s a catastrophe because we have lots of ash trees in the region,” says Christian Collette, an arborist who works for Martel Foresterie Urbaine.
The City of Montreal and some West Island municipalities are also battling the beetle.
The City of Longueuil has started marking infected trees that need to be removed.
What upsets residents the most is that if the trees are on private property, the City won’t cover the costs. And unlike some other cities on the south shore, Longueuil has decided not to treat their emerald ash trees.
The danger according to arborists is that the Emerald Ash Borer is spreading.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued warnings in affected areas, mostly in Ontario and Quebec, prohibiting the movement of all ash materials.
Residents who trim their trees must get rid of the clippings on their own, by bringing them to their local Éco-quartier.
“We’re able to do a comparison with the Dutch Elm Disease, there’s hardly any elm left in the region, but there wasn’t as many elm as there is ash,” said Collette.
D’Errico has made it her mission to inform her neighbours. She’s hoping to convince the city to step in and help cover the costs for the tree treatments before it’s too late.
“I’d like them to help citizens find a solution rather than just sit back and wait until they actually die.”
Her neighbour Pierre Roy has already spent close to $2,000 to remove one of his infected emerald ash tree and replant another.
“By the time it ever grows back, I’ll be dead,” said Roy.
As for D’Errico, she can’t begin to imagine growing old in her dream home without her two beautiful draping trees. Not to mention, they are the one reason she can beat the summer heat in her home, without air conditioning.
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