Public asked to check wooden planters for quarantined pest

Minnesota DNR

An adult emerald ash borer, which can kill ash trees.

Emerald Ash Borer poses threat to state's 870 million ash trees

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: January 25, 2008 - 12:15 AM

The Emerald Ash Borer has yet to be spotted in Minnesota, but the tree-destroying insect may be hiding in wooden planter boxes shipped to the state in violation of a federal quarantine.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is asking customers who bought wooden planter boxes made from ash bark to check them to see if they are hiding the pest.

The boxes in question are labeled "Nature's Own Planters" by Lawson Products. The boxes are 24 inches by 8 inches and were sent to Minnesota last summer and fall from Indiana and distributed at Lowe's stores, the Agriculture Department said.

The planters were not supposed to be sent to Minnesota, but containers holding the boxes were allegedly mislabeled by the Indiana manufacturer and sent.

While never spotted in Minnesota, the emerald ash borer has killed more than 20 million ash trees in Michigan and thousands more in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Those states have been placed under a federal quarantine that prohibits the export of ash trees or ash wood.

The insect is a serious threat to Minnesota's 870 million ash trees, the state Agriculture Department said.

The Agriculture Department is telling anybody who might have purchased one of the planters in question to burn them or double-wrap them in 6-millimeter plastic bags and put them in the trash.

Anybody with questions can call the Agriculture Department at 651-201-6343.

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