Timeline of EAB detection in PA
An adult emerald ash borer was collected on a green ash tree in a non-residential landscape in Butler County, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. On June 27, 2007 the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture issued a quarantine for Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and Lawrence Counties in western Pennsylvania. Ground surveys are being conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine; Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, Division of Forest Pest Management; Pennsylvania State University, Cooperative Extension, Department of Entomology; and certified arborists to further delineate the extent of the infestation. On Friday, June 29, 2007 emerald ash borer was confirmed in Allegheny County, Marshall Township.
In late June 2008 the emerald ash borer was found in West Middlesex, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. The detection occurred approximately 0.5 mile from Ohio on ash trees at the Welcome Center along the eastbound lanes of I-80. It's believed that this infestation had been present at this site for several years. These ash trees have been removed and were properly disposed of in late September 2008.
The emerald ash borer was identified in Granville, Mifflin County, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff announced on February 25, 2009. This beetle was first detected in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2007 in Butler County and was found again the following summer in Mercer County. To help slow the spread of the beetle, a state-imposed quarantine for Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties will now be expanded to include Mifflin County. State and federal emerald ash borer quarantines restrict the movement from the quarantine area of ash nursery stock, green lumber and any other ash material, including logs, stumps, roots and branches, and all wood chips. "Our survey crews are assessing the extent of the infestation in Mifflin County and surrounding areas," said Wolff. "We remind consumers to heed the quarantine when traveling and camping this spring and summer-not just in the quarantined areas but throughout Pennsylvania-to prevent any further spread of the beetle."
Greg Hoover, ornamental entomologist with Penn State's Department of Entomology was also informed that an EAB extension training session conducted for master gardeners in Mifflin County resulted in one of the master gardeners in attendance placing the EAB information shared at the training session on their blog. A Mifflin County resident saw the EAB information on this master gardener's blog and then contacted the appropriate authorities. This indeed highlights the importance of Penn State Cooperative Extension educational programming and public outreach.
Emerald Ash Borer beetles have been found in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, bringing to seven the number of counties where the ash tree-destroying pest has been identified, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff announced. A Westmoreland County crew detected the new infestation.
Surveys conducted in Pennsylvania during the summer of 2009 also detected the emerald ash borer in Washington, Armostrong, and Indiana counties. Twenty crews working with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture spent the summer of 2009 assessing the spread of the emerald ash borer.
A total of 11 Pennsylvania counties are now under an order of quarantine for the emerald ash borer. Juniata County was added to this list late in October.
In mid-May the emerald ash borer was detected in Bedford County. A total of 12 counties are now under an order of quarantine for the emerald ash borer.
The general public is reminded of the quarantine that is in effect throughout Pennsylvania with hopes of preventing any further spread of the beetle.
As of July 2010 the emerald ash borer was detected in Centre (Potters Mills), Somerset (Quemahoning Township), Fulton (Valley Hi Borough), Union, and Cumberland counties. This pest has now been confirmed in 17 Pennsylvania counties.
In September 2010 the emerald ash borer was detected in Clarion County. This pest has now been confirmed in 18 Pennsylvania counties.
In May 2011 the emerald ash borer was detected in southern Lycoming County. This pest has now been confirmed in 19 Pennsylvania counties.
In early July 2011 the emerald ash borer was detected in southern Wyoming County. To date, this pest has been confirmed in 20 Pennsylvania counties.
On July 5 Huntingdon County was confirmed positive for the EAB. Eight adult EAB specimens were recovered from a purple panel sticky trap baited with manuka oil in a small wooded lot in Mt. Union, PA adjacent to warehouse.
The EAB was confirmed in Sullivan County on Thursday July 28. The location is along Rt. 87 east of Colley, PA in Colley Township in northeastern Sullivan County. One EAB adult was taken on a purple panel sticky trap.
In mid-March 2012 the EAB was confirmed on trees in a residential area in Warrington, Bucks County.
In early June 2012 the EAB was confirmed in two locations in Perry County. The first site was in a campground on the Susquehanna River in Liverpool, PA. The second location was at the first eastbound truck pull-off on Rt. 322 as you enter Perry County. Both of these sites are USDA-APHIS, Otis Lab's trap efficacy test sites.
The EAB was also found in Venango County. This site was turned in by the USDA and was found by visual / destructive survey in a campground in Emlenton, PA.
Additionally, the EAB was confirmed on a trap in an USDA-APHIS, Otis Lab's trap efficacy test site at the State Center in Selinsgrove, Snyder County.
In early July 2012 the EAB was confirmed in Franklin County. In late July 2012 the EAB was confirmed in Jefferson County.
In early August the EAB was also confirmed in Clinton County on a purple prism trap.
The EAB was detected by a PDA employee in a visual/destructive sample near Watsontown in Northumberland County on December 4.
On April 10, 2014 a sample collected in Berks County on I-78 near Bernville, PA by an employee of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture was confirmed positive for the EAB.
On April 22, 2014 the EAB was collected by an employee of the PA Dept. of Agriculture and has been confirmed in Lebanon County at Bullfrog Road near Grantville, PA.
A sample from Greene County, PA that was collected by an employee of the PA DCNR, Bureau of Forestry, Div. of Forest Pest Management was confirmed positive on April 30, 2014 as the EAB. This sample was from along Rt. 21 near Waynesburg, PA.
A panel trap sample from Gettysburg, PA on federal land in Adams County was submitted by an employee of the US Forest Service. It was confirmed positive for the EAB on July 30, 2014.
A sample of the EAB was collected on July 31, 2014 by a PA Dept. of Agriculture plant inspector from private property in Dillsburg in York County. It was confirmed positive on August 7, 2014.
An EAB sample collected on July 19, 2014 was submitted to the PDA by a citizen in Crawford County. It was confirmed as positive on August 12, 2014. The location of the specimen is at a private residence in Meadville, PA.
A sample of the EAB was collected in Ashland in Schuylkill County by a PDA employee on September 5, 2014. It was confirmed as positive by the USDA on September 10, 2014.
A sample turned in by employees with the USDA Forest Service from McKean County that was collected on February 17, 2015 has been confirmed as the EAB.
The EAB was confirmed from a roadside sample collected on May 8, 2015 in Lancaster County by an employee of the PA Department of Agriculture.
This brings the total number of counties confirmed for the emerald ash borer in Pennsylvania to 57.