State agricultural officials will begin spraying pesticides this week on public properties, including parks, as part of multiyear effort to eradicate invasive Japanese beetles, which destroy crops, such as grapes and hops, as well as roses and grass lawns. 

The applications will be in Pasco, Prosser, Sunnyside, Grandview, Mabton and Wapato, according to a release. The state also continues to encourage private landowners in the treatment areas to sign up to have their properties sprayed free of charge. 

“In order to really knock back the number of beetles this year and have a chance at eradicating these beetles, we need more people to sign up and give consent to have their property treated,” said Sven Spichiger, pest program manager with the state Department of Agriculture, said in a statement. “Any yard that isn’t treated becomes a haven where the beetles can rapidly reproduce.” 

The product being used for the treatments is called Acelepryn and is a reduced-risk pesticide that, according to the Washington State Department of Health, poses low risk to humans, pets and birds. The product is applied to lawns and treatment usually only takes a few minutes for the average yard. TruGreen is conducting the treatments as a state contractor. 

The state has identified over 17,000 properties in south central Washington that need to be treated for Japanese beetles.  

Consent forms were mailed to treatment area residents earlier this year, but consent can still be given at agr.wa.gov/beetles.  

For additional assistance, property owners can contact the WSDA Pest Program at pest@agr.wa.gov or 1-800-443-6684.  

Assistance is available in both English and Spanish.