OTTAWA, September 22, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer (EAB) in the City of Sault Ste. Marie. The infestation is located in a residential area of the city near the intersection of MacDonald Avenue and Pim Street. This is the first find of the pest in northern Ontario.
This invasive beetle does not spread quickly on its own. In fact, it is most commonly spread when people move materials which it has infested. Moving these materials even just a few kilometres away can spread the emerald ash borer to new areas.
We all have a responsibility to protect Canada's forests and area residents can play a key part in helping to control the spread of EAB by not moving firewood, logs, branches, nursery stock, chips or other ash wood. Canadians are encouraged to buy firewood locally, burn it on site and never bring it back home.
The CFIA will be carrying out increased surveying of trees in the area to determine the extent of the infestation and affected property owners will be notified. Regulatory measures to control this pest will be taken based on information obtained through the surveys. The CFIA continues to work with its partners and stakeholders toward the goal of slowing the spread of this destructive pest.
Additional information is available on the CFIA web site at www.inspection.gc.ca or by calling 1-866-463-6017.
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Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Media Relations: 613-228-6682
The emerald ash borer is highly destructive to ash trees and was first discovered in Canada in Ontario in the summer of 2002. It already affects ash trees in the United States and Canada and poses an economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas across both countries. EAB does not pose a risk to human health.
This invasive beetle has previously been confirmed in Ontario in the city of Toronto, the municipality of Chatham-Kent as well as Essex, Elgin, Lambton, Middlesex and Norfolk counties. Regulatory restrictions have been put in place in these areas to control the movement of potentially infested materials and to slow the spread of the pest to new areas. It has also been recently confirmed in the Montérégie Region in Quebec and in the cities of Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Oakville, and Ottawa in Ontario.
