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Cargo ship infested with tree-killing beetles ordered to leave New Orleans
Control of Asian beetle has cost millions of dollars since 1996
BY TRISTAN BAURICK | STAFF WRITER PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2021 AT 3:28 PM | UPDATED JUL 28, 2021 AT 8:43 PM
Federal agents inspecting a cargo ship near New Orleans ordered it out of the country after finding it infested with a type of Asian beetle that has been destroying trees in the U.S. for about 25 years.
They discovered the invasive beetle in wood onboard the Pan Jasmine on July 17, just after the 590-foot-long vessel anchored in the Mississippi River about a mile downriver from New Orleans, according U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Flagged under Panama, the ship had previously offloaded a shipment of aluminum in Veracruz, Mexico, after departing a port in India.
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“If the wood had been offloaded into the U.S., it would have been put in a Louisiana landfill where the insects could crawl out and invade the local habitat, causing incalculable damage,” said Terri Edwards, the agency's New Orleans area port director.
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Control of Asian beetle has cost millions of dollars since 1996
BY TRISTAN BAURICK | STAFF WRITER PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2021 AT 3:28 PM | UPDATED JUL 28, 2021 AT 8:43 PM
Federal agents inspecting a cargo ship near New Orleans ordered it out of the country after finding it infested with a type of Asian beetle that has been destroying trees in the U.S. for about 25 years.
They discovered the invasive beetle in wood onboard the Pan Jasmine on July 17, just after the 590-foot-long vessel anchored in the Mississippi River about a mile downriver from New Orleans, according U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. Flagged under Panama, the ship had previously offloaded a shipment of aluminum in Veracruz, Mexico, after departing a port in India.
...
“If the wood had been offloaded into the U.S., it would have been put in a Louisiana landfill where the insects could crawl out and invade the local habitat, causing incalculable damage,” said Terri Edwards, the agency's New Orleans area port director.
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