OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford There’s plenty of tree stumps near the entrance to Point Gratiot Park after a cutting operation got rid of ashes infested with the emerald ash borer.

The emerald ash borer has destroyed hundreds of ash trees at Point Gratiot Park, and the Dunkirk Department of Works is currently clearing them.

Mike Przybycien, deputy DPW director, said workers intend to bring down about 200 trees. Workers take down trees between 2:30 and 5 p.m. and come back to chop up felled trees in the morning. The DPW’s new wood chipper has proved vital to that process, he said.

Przybycien said people have complained to DPW about the work, criticizing the removal of so many trees. “These are trees that had no leaves at all grow on them this year,” he said. “An arborist told us they were all dead.”

DPW Director Randy Woodbury said the emerald ash borer turned the ash trees “to dangerous zombies.”

He said, “The battle against invasives is difficult but DPW’s great Parks and Steets divisions fight valiantly.” Woodbury added that besides the emerald ash borer, Australian phragmites and Japanese knotweed are other “especially pernicious” invasive species.

As the old goes out, the new comes in: According to city councilperson Nancy Nichols, Revitalize Dunkirk will be planting trees around Point Gratiot park.

She said Revitalize Dunkirk is purchasing some trees from a tree company, which will help the group plant them, with oversight from DPW.

Also, the city is eyeing a tree grant opportunity from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. EJ Hayes, Dunkirk’s deputy director of planning and development, told the city council’s Economic Development Committee Monday the DEC is offering $50,000 grants to small cities devastated by the emerald ash borer.

Hayes said he would find out more about the grant program during a webinar later in the week. Since the city’s emerald ash borer problem is already on DEC’s radar, Dunkirk stands a good chance of getting one of the grants, he added.