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The State vs. Invasive Species

Illinois, as part of a four-state coalition — with New York, Connecticut, and California — filed suit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on September 15, demanding that it examine more effective, less environmentally harmful ways to control invasive species.

The USDA had amended Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) regulations on wood packaging materials used to ship imported goods. However, the coalition felt that the new pest control regulations were only marginally effective, and allowed APHIS to continue using an unsafe chemical that is currently being phased out of use under an international treaty. The coalition’s claim was that the USDA had failed to comply with a federal law requiring it to study alternatives to any action impacting the environment.

At the forefront of the suit was the case of the Asian long-horned beetle — a plant pest from China that burrows in trees, feeding off of leaves and bark. The insect first established itself in the U.S. in Brooklyn, NY, in 1996. Two years later, a citizen in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood reported seeing one on a tree limb. In both cases, a quarantine followed and hundreds of trees were destroyed.

The coalition has requested that the USDA phase out the importation of raw-wood packaging, which is a carrier of the beetles. Use of alternate shipping materials would eliminate the need to fumigate imports with methyl bromide, a chemical that not only depletes the ozone layer, but proves inefficient in eradicating a species that can burrow deep in wood. If importation continues under these current practices, the migration of insects from the borders to inland states will further threaten native biodiversity.

“Illinois is a major participant in the global economy and must take appropriate steps to ensure that while we enjoy the benefits of that economy, we are not harmed by unintended consequences, such as invasive species,” said Matt Dunn, Chief of Environmental Enforcement for the Office of the Illinois Attorney General. “Whether it is a foreign species like the zebra mussel entering the Great Lakes, or beetles from China,” he said, “the federal government must do its part and take all appropriate steps to ensure that our environment is not attacked from abroad.” Stay tuned for further developments in this case.

— Divina Baratta