Mulch warning from Health Dept

[Dargo]

This was sent to me from a friend who received it from the Health Department in his city:



Mulch Warning



If you use mulch around your house be very careful about buying mulch
this year. After the Hurricane in New Orleans many trees were blown
over. These trees were then turned into mulch and the state is trying to
get rid of tons and tons of this mulch to any state or company who will
come and haul it away. So it will be showing up in Home Depot and Lowes
at dirt cheap prices with one huge problem; Formosan Termites will be
the bonus in many of those bags. New Orleans is one of the few areas in
the country were the Formosan Termites has gotten a strong hold and
most of the trees blown down were already badly infested with those
termites. Now we may have the worst case of transporting a problem to
all parts of the country that we have ever had. These termites can eat
a house in no time at all and we have no good control against them, so
tell your friends that own homes to avoid cheap mulch and know were it
came from.



Laura Y. Lindley, R.E.H.S.

Clark County Health Department

1320 Duncan Avenue

Jeffersonville, Indiana 47130

812-282-7521 office

812-288-2711 fax

llindley@digicove.com

 

[Melensdad]

I did a quick search and these termites do appear to be a big problem in the New Orleans area. Efforts are underway to fumigate the wood, however, they only are doing it in a few counties (Parrishes) in Louisiana.

Here is some information from the LSU website:

Efforts under way to prevent spread of Formosan subterranean termites in mulch from Louisiana following hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Efforts are under way to prevent the spread of Formosan subterranean termites in mulch from New Orleans and Louisiana following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It is true that there is a lot of cellulose debris (wood, paper and their products) in Louisiana following these two hurricanes. Yes, Formosan subterranean termites are found in the parishes affected by the hurricanes and will get in mulch. However, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF) in Louisiana imposed a quarantine for the Formosan subterranean termite on October 3, 2005, in Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes (the parishes affected by the hurricanes).

Provisions of the quarantine imposed by the LDAF include:

• Movement of wood or cellulose material is prohibited unless either (1) it is fumigated or treated for Formosan subterranean termites and is approved for movement by the commissioner or his designee(s) or (2) written authorization is given by the commissioner or his designee(s) for the movement of untreated wood or cellulose material from the quarantined parishes.
• Temporary housing cannot be moved from the named parishes until written authorization is given by the commissioner or his designee(s).
• All architectural components (beams, doors and salvaged wood) cannot be sold or placed in any structure in any parish until the architectural components are fumigated or treated for Formosan subterranean termites.
• Additionally, it is strongly recommended and urged that all new construction and reconstruction of structures in the quarantined parishes use termite-resistant materials. Termite-resistant materials include pressure-treated wood (borates, ammonical copper quat or copper azole) or non-cellulose materials.

The quarantine is in effect until it is rescinded by the commissioner of agriculture.If a waiver of a requirement or an authorization to carry out one of the prohibited acts is granted, it does not rescind or modify the quarantine.

​

Also, here is a fact sheet, in downloadable PDF format, from LSU.

 

[Dargo]

I don't know about you, but I think I'll pass on any mulch this year.

 

[Melensdad]

I actually have about 4 pallets of mulch left over from last year so I doubt I will need any mulch this year.

However, I've done some additional digging around and I'm sure that quite a bit of mulch is probably going to be OK to use. Hardwood and pine mulch from the north should be fine. Western cedar mulch should be fine. I think that a lot of the trees from down south are probably pine, so pine and pine bark mulches might be suspect.

I would also say that SNOPES has an article saying that says this issue is a false rumor. My personal belief is that the SNOPES article is pre-Katrina, and the warning from the health department is probably overblown, but it would still be wise to heed the warning if there is any suspiscion that the mulch is from the hurricane effected areas.

 

[humor_me]

Bob,
you got to love that LSUAgCenter website. They got so much good information there.
Quite a while back, they had several articles, tips and general information on using and setup of various homestead implements such as mowers, rotary cutters, etc. Things that a bunch of people are always asking about on the other site.

Point is, (at least me) tend to forget all about it if not reminded once in a while.

Thanks Bob.