Emerald Ash Borer found in Barrington

While not good news, the discovery of the first emerald ash borer in Barrington nevertheless took a lot longer than most experts anticipated.

“I'm really surprised we didn't find one earlier and we've been looking,” Barrington Public Works Director Dennis Burmeister said.

Evidence of ash borer infestation in two trees was discovered last week during routine inspections of public property on the 100 block of Monument Avenue.

The destructive, nonnative insect was first spotted in the Midwest in the summer of 2002 and made its way into Illinois by at least June 2006, when a case was confirmed in Kane County. A number of communities near Barrington, including Algonquin, Barrington Hills and Hoffman Estates, have reported sightings in recent years.

The confirmation won't trigger any change in the village's procedures as it's already been as vigilant as can be, Burmeister said.

If there's a bright side to the timing of the discovery, it's that it's occurring after the Illinois Department of Agriculture changed its initial required response to chop down any and all ash trees within the general vicinity of an infected tree, Burmeister said.

After a while, that harsh policy came to be seen as an instance of the cure being worse than the disease.

“I think that would have been different,” Burmeister said. “We would have had to react under those laws.”

While current laws don't even require a municipality to publicly announce the discovery, Burmeister did so in the interest of courtesy and openness, he said.

“I think the next few years will tell a little bit more about how quickly it starts to spread,” Burmeister said.