Workers begin chopping down trees in beetle battle

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - Workers have begun destroying thousands of trees in central Massachusetts in the battle to eradicate the destructive Asian longhorned beetle from the region.

U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Suzanne Bond says crews from two tree service contractors began cutting down the first of about 6,000 infected trees Monday, five months after the invasive pest was discovered in Worcester.

Bond says trees closest to those infested also will be cut down.

Trees in a two-square mile area face the chipper in the hopes of halting the spread of the black and white beetles, which bore dime-sized holes in hardwood trees, eventually killing them.

Officials say it could take a decade to complete the process within the full 64-square-mile regulated area which covers Worcester and parts of Shrewsbury, Boylston, West Boylston and Holden.