Treatments with the pesticide imidacloprid have been completed on 2,200 trees in a half-mile radius around the tree in northern Linden that was found infested with the ALB on March 23.

Ground crews have surveyed trees within a quarter-mile of the new find, with no additional infested trees found. Aerial crews in bucket trucks are expected to begin work within the next month on examining the upper areas of trees not visible from the ground.

An ALB Emergency Rule officially expanding the quarantine zone is going through the rule-making protocol in hopes of being published in the April 5 New Jersey Register.

The NJDA is working with Roselle Borough and Elizabeth to establish dates and times for at least one public information session on the beetle.

The infested horsechestnut tree found in the northern section of Linden was the first new detection since November 2005. It was removed on Wednesday, March 29. The tree had approximately 20 fresh egg sites on it, but no exit holes, indicating that no adult beetles had emerged from the tree.

As of April 7, crews have removed 528 infested trees, including the one new find, and 15,663 high-risk host trees in the Middlesex/Union infestation. The Department of Agriculture has worked cooperatively with the United States Department of Agriculture in the survey and removal work in both the Middlesex/Union counties infestation area and the earlier Jersey City/Hoboken area. In both areas, the NJDA has worked with the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Forestry Service to replace trees in residential areas and parks.

To date, 433 trees have been replaced in the Jersey City infestation area and 2,112 have been replaced in the Middlesex/Union infestation area. The replacements trees are all species that the ALB will not infest.

"Information courtesy of Pat Hastings, NJinPAS Coordinator/Assistant Pesticide Safety Education Program Coordinator/New Jersey School IPM Coordinator"