The on-going battle with the Red Flour Beetle infestation in the Kaufman Addition continues as the City of Levelland continues to provide the public with more information in the process of eradicating the nuisance.
The City of Levelland issued a press release regarding the infestation September 8.
The release stated the City of Levelland has been working closely with the Texas A&M Agri-Life Entomology Department and recently Texas Department of Agriculture to work through and mitigate the Red Flour Beetle infestation in Levelland.
On August 16, based on information provided to the city by these agencies and residents in the immediate area, the city placed probe traps provided by Texas A&M AgriLife in three industrial facilities that had bulk stored agriculture commodities. The results from those traps indicated the Red Flour Beetles were present at all three facilities.
After giving each facility notice of the issue and an opportunity to mitigate the presence of the Red Flour Beetle, two of the facilities chose to completely remove the agriculture commodities from their facilities while the third facility attempted to treat the commodity onsite.
On September 5, it was determined from the probe trap results that the Red Flour Beetle is still present at the third facility owned by Penny Newman Grain Company. The city is continuing to work with Penny Newman Grain Company and hopes that through voluntary cooperation the mitigation of the infestation can move forward.
On August 31, the Texas Department of Agriculture with assistance from Texas A&M Agri-life Entomologists deployed numerous pheromone traps in the areas adjacent to the facilities where the beetles were proven to be present. This is to aid in the population monitoring as the abatement process continues.
The City of Levelland will continue to monitor and check the Red Flour Beetle population and follow up with appropriate enforcement, non-compliance actions as necessary.
The City of Levelland held a special meeting on Saturday, at City Hall regarding the matter moving forward.
During an executive session, staff and council reviewed the latest report findings, staff communications and options for resolution. City leaders plan to give an update to the public during open session at Monday’s regular council meeting.
A Facebook post from the city’s social media page states, “It has been said that we can move along faster or further together. The city is hoping to build a partnership with the businesses involved to initiate an immediate resolution and develop plans, rules for the management of these practices in the future. The City must be careful as we move forward to ensure that we do not make any missteps that may complicate our ability to resolve this issue as quickly as possible or create additional obstacles that must be overcome.”
The post also explained that the special meeting held Saturday will hopefully allow city staff to implement actions Monday morning, rather than later in the week.
Going forward, the City of Levelland will make Facebook updates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m.
An updated post was made Friday morning stating the City of Levelland had a great meeting yesterday with representatives of Penny Newman, Texas Agri Life and a pest control company.
“We are exploring two options to resolve the Red Flour Beetle infestation and hope to implement early next week,” the post stated. “There will be more news next week as we work over the weekend to examine the options. Again, thank you for your patience and understanding.”