EAB: Spreading in Wheaton, Contained in Glen Ellyn

Although officials in Glen Ellyn say that their emerald ash borer program has passed its peak and that the blight is well under control, next door in Wheaton the problem has "exploded" in 2013, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to the paper, Wheaton has budgeted $350,000 for the 2013-2014 year for tree removal and replanting; the city still has 5,700 ash trees left of its original 6,500 from 2008, but many are riddled with the destructive invasive insect.

"We don't have exact numbers but we have, literally, hundreds of trees that are infested," Wheaton's forestry superintendent Kevin Maloney told the paper. "I think it's normal that once this insect is in the area that we have an exponential curve, but what's really accelerated the downfall of the trees is last year's drought."

Glen Ellyn, on the other hand, is budgeting only $70,000 for its 800 remaining ash trees (of 1,600 originally,) which includes treatment programs that Wheaton does not perform, the paper said; the Village's program is winding down after peaking last year.

"We did learn a lesson," Public Works Director Julius Hansen told the paper. "We (diversify) our trees that we plant now because of a situation like this."

Read the full story at the Chicago Tribune website.