NOVEMBER 2014
The USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service wants to have treatment chambers in port locations to treat both logs being exported and tile being imported, Mack said.
Based on Chen and White’s success with the vacuum-steam process, the agency is considering other applications for it.
“Next, we are looking at schedules for thousand canker disease on black walnut and oak wilt on oak logs,” said Mack. “This is a huge deal because the treatment for oak wilt now is methyl bromide at the single highest rate recommended in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Treatment Manual. Methyl bromide is also being phased out internationally because it is an ozone-depleting chemical.”
Chen and White first tested a vacuum-steam treatment to control insects, fungi, and mold in wood used for pallets in 2006. They applied the technique to treat firewood infested with the invasive emerald ash borer earlier this year. Both of those studies were funded by the USDA Forest Service.
Source: Virginia Tech