Camilo Acosta, the Japanese beetle eradication coordinator with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, told Franklin County commissioners that trap counts in and near Pasco have risen sharply this year and that the agency is expanding both turf and foliar treatments and reopening talks about an internal quarantine.

Acosta said the program has been active in Franklin County for three years and that, as of his update to the board, crews had trapped about 2,000 Japanese beetles so far this year — about four times the number trapped in 2024. He said residential turf treatments began in 2024 (about 900 residents treated that year) and that crews completed 2,254 turf treatments between April and June of the current year and roughly 600 full-year treatments by July. Acosta told commissioners the program will continue trapping through October and expects field treatments to wrap up for the season around Aug. 15.

The state official said crews widened treatments this year to include foliar sprays targeting adult beetles in shrubs and trees, in addition to soil-applied products targeting grubs. “Other Western states haven’t seen major drops in population until they actually start killing the adults as well as the larvae,” Acosta said. He described the insecticide used as “reduced toxicity” and said it carries no signal-word label for acute mammal toxicity.

Why this matters: Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) is a nonnative pest that damages turf, ornamentals and some agricultural crops. Acosta said most detections remain concentrated in a defined hot spot between Sylvester and Wernet in Pasco, which improves prospects for longer-term suppression, but that human-assisted movement of regulated material — especially green waste and potted plants — is the likeliest way the beetle spreads to new cities and counties.

Acosta said the agency is discussing the option of an internal quarantine that would restrict regulated articles from leaving the treatment area during the beetle flight season (he cited May 15–Oct. 15 as the typical active window in rule language). He stressed that a quarantine would need local mitigation — for example, a designated drop-off area for yard debris inside the quarantine — before being implemented, and said the agency is consulting the city and county to design workable options. “We don’t just want to introduce a quarantine and have nowhere for people to take their green waste,” Acosta said, pointing to sites used in Grandview and Sunnyside as examples.

Commissioners and members of the public asked for details about the program’s prospects and community impacts. Acosta said eradication is feasible but long-term: “This is an operation that is going to take five to 10 years,” he said, and noted that some Western jurisdictions have required multiple years of consistent treatment. He added that other jurisdictions have reduced hot spots after adding foliar treatments in combination with turf treatments and trapping.

Acosta also described operational numbers commissioners pressed him on: he said traps are left in place until October to catch late-season individuals; the agency focused treatments around traps that previously caught 50 or more beetles within a 200-meter radius; and the spring-to-summer work this year included targeted treatments of parks, schools and a golf course with cooperation from local jurisdictions. He warned that without continued funding to sustain both turf and foliar treatments next year, progress could stall.

On disposal options and composting, Acosta said commercial composting that reaches heat levels sufficient to kill grubs is an acceptable endpoint; he acknowledged, however, that backyard compost piles often do not reach those temperatures and can become larval habitat if not managed properly. He also said burning yard waste proved infeasible in some places because of air-quality rules.

The board did not take formal action on the presentation. Acosta provided contact information and asked to continue coordination with county and city staff over the off-season to refine treatment boundaries and discuss quarantine logistics.