Bug emergency declared in Orem

OREM — Three Orem neighborhoods are under a state of "insect infestation emergency," allowing the state full authority to spray each affected yard.

An emergency declaration notice about the Japanese beetle will land in mailboxes today and Saturday, informing residents that, one way or another, their yards must be treated come June 1.

"We must treat 100 percent of the ground," said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. "Because it's a serious threat, we must treat all the infected areas."

The small, shiny green- and copper-colored pest was first discovered last July by Meredith Seaver in her side yard at 587 W. 150 North in Orem.

Several months, hundreds of traps and thousands of beetles later, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has approval from nearly 95 percent of affected residents to begin spraying.

TruGreen ChemLawn has been contracted to spray the three neighborhoods three different times during 2007 at a cost of $400,000. Costs for the next two years may fluctuate.

If the bug is not eradicated, it could become a million-dollar problem.

The bug has the potential to seriously damage agricultural and turf industries, which are crucial to Utah's economy, said Clair Allen, director of the division of plant industry for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

A few skeptics remain, however. They are opposed to the chemicals or the government's involvement on their property.

"Once they understand the facts and not the fears they'll understand what needs to be done and join the effort," Lewis said. Some city and department volunteers have even gone door-to-door handing out educational pamphlets.

Residents with a doctor's note explaining their aversion to the chemicals can pay for a milky spore treatment on their property. It's more expensive and not as effective, which is why the city is only using it as needed.

But everyone must participate to avoid the problem of one female bug escaping eradication, laying eggs and spawning a new generation of pests.

"I'm really relieved they've done the declaration," Seaver said. "There are so many people who love to garden and it's so hard for them to give that up, so to think that that would be wasted because other people didn't want to cooperate? (It would be) so unfair."