Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has fined two Rhode Island tree service companies for illegally transporting 11 ash trees from a quarantine zone for the Asian longhorned beetle to North Kingstown, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Yard Works Inc. of Warwick, and Warwick Tree Service, of East Greenwich, have each paid a $1,875 fine and have been barred from working in the quarantine zone.

"They took trees out of the regulated area and risked the spread [of beetles]," the Telegram & Gazette quoted USDA spokeswoman Suzanne M. Bond. The act of moving the trees from Worcester to Rhode Island "jeopardized plant health in two states and potentially spread the beetle infestation," according to a USDA news release.

The 11-foot-long ash logs were removed by Warwick Tree Services from Skyline Drive in Green Hill Park on or about Nov. 13, 2008, according to the USDA.

After the violation was reported to the USDA, federal officials retrieved the logs from North Kingstown and had them chipped at a site in Worcester. The logs showed no signs of beetle infestation, according to the USDA, and a subsequent survey of the host trees in North Kingstown showed no evidence that any beetles had been released there.

 Tags  Asian longhorned beetle East Greenwich RI North Kingstown RI U.S. Department of Agriculture Warwick RI

Comments

Will said:

Idiots. Well, there are two companies I will never do businss with.

Link | April 20, 2009 6:42 AM
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