Cleanup Begins on the Lower Passaic: Summary and Opinion

Workers use a specialized environmental dredging bucket to
remove contaminated sediment from the RM 10.9 portion
of the Passaic River. Sediment is transported to a facility in
Kearny, NJ, for processing before it is moved by rail to a
landfill in Oklahoma. Courtesy of Lower Passaic River
Study Area Cooperating Parties Group.

In July, after many years of study and debate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began oversight of a $20 million dredge-and-cap project along the Lower Passaic River in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The work will remove approximately 20,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from a short stretch of river adjacent to Riverside County Park. On August 7, GSWA Executive Director Sally Rubin attended a press conference intended to mark the start of dredging and introduce the project timeline to media representatives and the general public.

A long legacy of industrial pollution has rendered the Lower Passaic unswimmable, unfishable, and unlivable by most standards. In fact, in 1984, the overwhelming presence of hazardous substances in and below the water led the EPA to list 17 miles of the
river—from Dundee Dam near Garfield to Newark Bay—as part of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site.

The site takes its name from the now-defunct Diamond Shamrock Chemical Company (aka Diamond Alkali). As a major manufacturer of the chemical defoliant Agent Orange in the 1950s and 1960s, the corporation’s old Lister Avenue plant is now understood to be the predominant source of PCBs, dioxin, mercury, and other toxins afflicting the Lower Passaic.

For decades, cleanup of the contaminated river bottom has been mired down by innumerable feasibility and impact studies conducted by federal and state government agencies; as well as an unremitting, seven-year lawsuit. Filed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the suit sought damages against 70 corporations deemed responsible for causing the pollution. Most of those corporations, including the oft-mentioned Occidental Chemical Corporation, are successors to the original Diamond Shamrock concern which was broken up, sold, and resold over the course of many years.

With the majority of impact studies concluded or wrapping up and the NJDEP lawsuit settled for $130 million in the state’s favor this past June, remediation is finally starting.

The project now underway at River Mile 10.9—RM 10.9 in common parlance—was not designed to address all 17 miles of the designated Superfund site. In truth, the intervention only covers a 5.6-acre area of severe contamination located offshore west of Riverside County Park. Nevertheless, Judith Enck, regional administrator for EPA Region 2, interprets activity at RM 10.9 as a positive sign of progress to come.

In a prepared statement released at the August 7 press conference Enck stated, “This cleanup removes some of the worst contamination in the Passaic River while the EPA continues to develop long-term cleanup plans for a 17-mile stretch of the Lower Passaic River...” An NJ.com report from the same event portrayed the Administrator’s hopeful outlook: “When you clean up urban waterways, people flock to the river,” Enck said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for recreation and economic growth.”

The Lower Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group (CPG) recently released a statement announcing a timeline for work at RM 10.9. Equipment barges were to move into the vicinity of Riverside Park by the end of July, and dredging was to be completed by the end of September. However, a number of drawbridge failures along the downstream river corridor delayed the initial staging. Assuming the project recovers lost time, site capping—which involves the placement of an engineered stone barrier over the area of sediment removal—will begin in October and will conclude by December 31.

A diagram depicting the arrangement of silt curtains around
the RM 10.9 site. The curtains will work to prevent loose
contaminated sediment from flowing downstream and
further polluting other area of the river. Courtesy of Lower
Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group.

Work will be conducted entirely on the water, and is not expected to adversely affect park access, or the health and safety of nearby homes and businesses. However, a number of measures have been implemented in order to ensure the continuing safety and security of workers and residents. Those measures include the presence of an onsite security officer, a roving team of noise monitors, air-quality monitoring stations, and the installation of a floating silt curtain system in waters surrounding the site. The silt curtain, which extends several hundred yards downstream, is designed to prevent disturbed sediments from washing into other areas.

New Jersey will cover the $20 million price tag associated with RM 10.9 by dipping into the $130 million fund secured by NJDEP’s lawsuit. Although all of that settlement money has been earmarked for cleanup of the Lower Passaic, the Christie Administration—in a bid to balance the state budget—is pushing to reallocate at least $40 million of it into the state’s General Fund.

Speaking at the August 7 press conference, NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin explained that the substantial reallocation would be used to pay back the state for earlier environmental investigations and intervention planning his agency conducted on the Lower Passaic. According to The Observer Online, Martin clarified his position stating that, “Before EPA got involved, the state did a lot of research to understand the magnitude of the problem with the river…”

NJDEP’s argument in favor of retroactive remuneration to the General Fund does not sit well with many. Congressman Bill Pascrell from New Jersey’s 9th District is one of those opposed to the idea. In a letter to Governor Christie dated August 6, 2013, he wrote, “….it is essential that all funding recovered from the responsible parties be put toward the remediation and environmental restoration of the Passaic River, and not diverted to alternate programs.”

Congressman Pascrell’s view echoes those of others throughout New Jersey who see the governor’s move as a scheme to pad the state’s budget at the expense of Passaic River communities. From this perspective, a clear distinction is made between the fuzzy logic of collecting a reimbursement for past exploratory exercises, and the inevitable need to pay the bills coming due for current, effective, shovel-in-the-ground remediation projects. For those who have waited much of their lives to see even a single concrete step taken toward river restoration, there is nothing to contest. Funds from NJDEP’s settlement must be used to alleviate the present threat and real pain of Passaic River pollution, and not redistributed under the pretense of refunding the government for work that has already been bought and paid for.

The poet and author Maya Angelou famously wrote that, "When we cast our bread upon the waters, we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from that grantor’s gift." The communities of the Great Swamp Watershed have put tremendous effort into ensuring that the water passing through their custody on its way to Newark Bay remains clean and accessible to all. It is a given that those efforts have not been entirely successful, neither have they been wholly altruistic. Nevertheless, the principle of Angelou’s statement stands. The Passaic River begins with fishable, swimmable, and livable water. There is no valid principle or reasoning available to deny or delay the same for those living beyond its headwaters.

As protectors and advocates for waters that eventually find their way into the Lower Passaic, the Great Swamp Watershed Association lauds the progress made with the initiation of the dredge-and-cap program at RM 10.9. We also encourage all parties involved to look forward, instead of dwelling on past travails. Maintain your established momentum and commit all available resources and earmarks to the continuation of viable, effectual environmental remediation and restoration. Action is the best and only way to stretch the gift of cleaner water from the Great Swamp all the way to Newark Bay. And the sooner it is done, the sooner all of us in New Jersey may profit from a swimmable, fishable, and livable Passaic River.

Did You Know? The Friendly Turtles

By Jim Northrop, GSWA Volunteer

It was a mild, but sunny, July day and I decided to spend some time outside, enjoying nature. I had not visited the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge recently, so that was my destination. I enjoy using some of the wooden boardwalks that go deep into this unspoiled slice of nature. It was a weekday, so no one else was nearby.

Around a bend in the boardwalk, I saw a partly submerged tree stump with what appeared to be a turtle sunning himself. I went closer and realized there were two turtles, and they were only a few feet from the boardwalk.  On closer inspection, I saw that they were eastern painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), and both of them were asleep, basking in the pleasant rays of the sun.

In general, turtles seem to love soaking up sunlight. It is said that this helps to warm them up, since they are cold blooded. Basking also gets rid of parasites, such as leeches, which don't like the sun.
Suddenly, I heard a voice. Startled, I realized that the nearest turtle had opened his eyes and was speaking to me.

"I bet you wish you had a swim club as nice as ours," the near turtle said. I had to agree, but I realized there is more to life than sun bathing, so I had some questions.

"What do you do when you get hungry?" I asked. Well, he shared with me a rather extensive answer: "A turtle's diet varies greatly, depending on what is conveniently available. Adult turtles like me typically eat aquatic plants like duckweed, algae, and water lilies. We also eat insects, snails, earth worms, leeches, crayfish, tadpoles, frogs, fish, and some kinds of dead animal matter. However, my turtle youngsters tend to be carnivorous----meat-eating. I am no scientist, but I suppose they instinctively seek the protein that meaty meals provide, so their young bodies will grow fast."

At that point, the other turtle began to stir and listen to our conversation. I was curious about where and what they called "home," so I asked them. The second turtle stretched his neck toward the large shell on his back and said, "You're looking at my house----this cumbersome shell. You might say, 'I just never do leave home.'"

I took a closer look. I could see that the upper and lower shells encasing the belly of the turtle were joined together at the sides by bony structures. I also remembered that the inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones that include portions of the backbone and the ribs. So, I can see what this turtle meant about never being able to crawl out of his shell. Removing the shell would also remove part of his skeleton!

However, the rigid shell means turtles cannot breathe as other reptiles do, by changing the volume of their chest cavities by means of expansion and contraction of the ribs. Instead, they breathe in two other ways. First, they pull air into their mouths, and then they push it into their lungs by moving the floor of the throat back and forth in an oscillating motion. Secondly, when the abdominal muscles covering the posterior opening of the shell contract, the internal volume of the shell increases. This draws air into the lungs, allowing the muscles to function in much the same way as the diaphragm of mammals.

Although turtles probably spend large amounts of their lives under water, all turtles breathe air and must surface at regular intervals to refill their lungs.

Now that my friends had become so chatty, I was concerned about whether they had predators in the Great Swamp. I knew that when a turtle senses danger, it will quickly dive into the water. Also, turtles can hide their heads inside their shells when attacked by predators. But, both were quick to tell me that indeed they do have predators. The first turtle began listing a few: herons, raccoons, larger turtles, crows, large fish, snakes, hawks, bullfrogs, and foxes.

I knew it was a delicate question, but I wondered how challenging it was for turtles to reproduce. My new friends were prepared to talk about it. They said that painted turtles breed in the spring, and that females dig their nests sometime between May and July. First a female will climb a little way onto the shore. Then she will dig a hole that is close enough to the water so that the bottom of the hole will have some water in it. The hole she digs will be about four inches deep. Next, she lays her eggs----large numbers of them----in the hole; each egg being about one inch long. She then fills the hole back up to hide the nest, and the eggs are left to incubate by themselves.

Painted turtles do not raise their young. But, the baby turtles will hatch, dig their way out of the nest, and head for the water at about 10 weeks. "Sadly," the two turtles said, "many predators will eat the baby turtles while they are so vulnerable."

While the two turtles continued to talk, I was able to get a closer look at their mouths. Turtles have rigid beaks, and use their jaws to cut and chew food. Instead of having teeth, the upper and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny ridges. They apparently use their tongues to swallow food, but unlike most reptiles, they cannot stick out their tongues to catch food.

Painted turtles will not bite you if you disturb them, but they do have sharp claws. And those claws can scratch severely when a turtle struggles to get away from you. Importantly, these long, sharp claws are not used solely for defense. They are very useful when turtles clamber onto the riverbank and onto floating logs when they feel the urge to bask in the sun.

It was time for me to go, but I had one last question----I asked the two turtles what they do in the winter. They told me that they hibernate. There needs to be some mud at the bottom of the water. They dig into the mud----or dirt or leaves----and bury themselves. This posture protects them from the cold, and then their body functions slow way down until the warmer weather returns.

I thanked my two new friends for our surprising conversation, and I headed further out on the boardwalk. They invited me to chat again, if I were to come this way. I said I would, and then I realized that the Great Swamp is full of painted turtles that are pretty much identical. I would have to stop and talk to each and every one of them before finding these two new friends again!

Water-friendly Golf in Mendham Township

MGTC Superintendent Chris Boyle (left) with GSWA
Executive Director Sally Rubin (center) and
GSWA Director of Water Quality Programs
Laura Kelm (right). Chris gave a tour of MTGC
that highlighted the many environmentally-sensitive
golf course management practices in place there.
Credit: GSWA, Carlos Pomares

In June, Great Swamp Watershed Association staff members were invited to tour the Mendham Golf and Tennis Club (MGTC) to assist in the club’s recertification in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP). The ACSP promotes environmentally sound practices for land management and natural resource conservation on golf courses. Chris Boyle, the golf course superintendent, pointed out many of the measures in place at MGTC to protect the local environment and provide wildlife habitat.

Wherever possible, streams are surrounded by natural areas to provide habitat and protect waterways from stormwater runoff. Nest boxes for swallows, blue birds, wood ducks, and a thriving martin population are located throughout the property. Watering needs are determined on a daily basis using the club’s own weather station, and a portable soil moisture meter is used to target watering on dry areas. Soil tests and visual inspections determine the type, amount, and location of fertilizer usage. That fertilizer is applied in one of two ways: through the irrigation system or spot-applied at specific locations.

MGTC already conducts periodic water quality monitoring, but they also remain open to working with GSWA to improve on the location of monitoring site and increase testing frequency. GSWA’s recent State of the Streams report has shown that golf courses can have a negative impact on water quality. We are pleased to see a local golf taking steps to improve the environment and minimize impacts to water quality.

Winners of GSWA's Primrose Farm Photo Contest Announced

Tropical Storm Andrea blew herself out of New Jersey just in the nick of time! Happily, that meteorological coincidence set a sunny stage for the Great Swamp Watershed Association's much-anticipated Essence of Primrose Photo Contest on June 8, 2013.

Click here to learn more about the photo contest.

More than 20 individual photographers, along with a host of parents, partners, and other impropmtu artistic assistants, descended on Primrose Farm to join in the day-long event aimed at capturing that one picture capable of saying 1,000 words about the newest piece of preserved open space in New Jersey's Harding Township.

Click here to learn more about Harding's Primrose Farm.

Although competition was fierce in all three photographer age groups—13-and-under, 14-to-22, and 22-and-over—a panel of expert judges handpicked three submissions to take home top honors.

Each of the three winning photos is a true work of art.

Among those 22 and over, Michelle Hacker of Belcamp, Maryland, took the judges' collective breath away with her gorgeous, sepia-toned landscape, titled "Vintage Meadow," taken under the sheltering limbs of Primrose Farm's most distinctive oak tree.

"Vintage Meadow," by Michelle Hacker, Belcamp, MD.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

Among the 14-to-22-year-old contestants, Peri Levine of Bedminster, NJ, demonstrated a true facility and passion for wildlife photography with her snap of a perching dragonfly.

"Untitled," by Peri Levine, Bedminster, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

Among the 13-and-under crowd, Ashleigh Scully of Morristown, NJ, took first place with her photo, "Dawn at Primrose Farm."

"Dawn at Primrose Farm," by Ashleigh Scully, Morristown, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

All three photo contest winners received a gift certificate for $25 from Mpix.com. Each winner will also receive a full-size, framed print of their winning submission courtesy of our contest sponsors at Madison PhotoPlus (Madison, NJ) and The Image Maker Studio (Mendham, NJ).

Before the framed prints are turned over to our winners, they will hang for one month in a place of distinction at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center (EEC) located at 190 Lord Stirling Road in Basking Ridge, NJ. Stop by and have a look!

Although she was ever-so-slightly edged out of a victory in the 14-to-22-year-old age group, contestant Laurel Monks of Chatham Borough, NJ, received a very special honorable mention. She will not receive a gift certificate or a framed print, but her magnificently composed photo, "Twisting Through Time," will become the mascot for the Great Swamp Watershed Association's 2013 Gala Celebration. This year's gala will take place on Thursday, October 3, at the Westin Governor Morris in Morristown.

"Twisting Through Time," by Laurel Monks, Chatham, NJ.
Copyright ©2013 Great Swamp Watershed Association.

All of the submissions made to the Essence of Primrose Photo Contest are available for review on the Great Swamp Watershed Association's official Flickr page located at flickr.com/GSWA. This site also includes photos of Primrose Farm landscapes and widlife taken by GSWA volunteers and staff members. Enjoy!

Volunteers Honored for Contributions to Environmental Nonprofit

Great Swamp Watershed Association presents awards for outstanding service in 2012-13.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) honored three area residents for their outstanding service as volunteers over the past year.  The announcements were made during the environmental organization’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic on Tuesday, June 25.

Millington resident Bill Marshall was recognized for his contributions to GSWA’s water quality programs.  For the past two years, he has worked with the organization’s Stream Team to assist with the collection of scientific data from the five major streams of New Jersey’s Great Swamp.

Marshall has been instrumental in conducting scientific visual assessments of waterways, collecting water samples for chemical analysis, and, more recently, helping GSWA launch a monitoring program for waterborne bacteria.

Meyersville resident Ritchie Fullerton and Stirling resident Richard Desch were both recognized for their contributions to GSWA’s outreach and education programming.  Both honorees began their involvement in the organization through events sponsored jointly with Northern New Jersey Cachers (NNJC.org), a group dedicated to promoting the outdoor sport of geocaching statewide.

Fullerton and Desch provided critical support over the past year for two major efforts aimed at increasing awareness of the natural world in and around New Jersey’s Great Swamp.  GSWA’s Halloween-themed Spooky Swamp Walk—held on the 26 and 27 of October, 2012—introduced participants to the organization’s 53-acre, Conservation Management Area—a publicly accessible natural area and demonstration site for environmental restoration projects.  GSWA’s Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, held on May 11, 2013, introduced a host of geocachers and many others to the sights and sounds of the larger 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region by sending them out to explore outdoor destinations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Morris County’s Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham Township, NJ.

In appreciation of their contributions, GSWA presented all three honorees with appropriate swamp-related gifts.  Marshall received a copy of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States which includes information about plants and wildlife commonly found in the Great Swamp. Fullerton and Desch each received a northern highbush blueberry shrub to plant at home.  The highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is native to the eastern U.S. and commonly found in the Great Swamp region.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association sincerely thanks all of its 2012-13 volunteers for the excellent work they have done to protect the waters and the land of the Great Swamp Watershed we all love and share.  If you are interested in joining one GSWA’s environmental volunteer programs, please visit the organization online at GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 for more information.

Accolades for Bernards High School Students Working Toward Cleaner Water

Advanced Placement projects benefit Great Swamp Watershed Association, win award from The Nature Conservancy

Bernards High School students in Karen DeTrolio’s AP Environmental Studies class made a big splash with their year-end projects this June.  Working in teams of 3 or 4, they examined their own relationships with water and turned their discoveries into practical information everyone can use to avoid pollution and conserve natural resources.

The 20 projects, which included everything from a review of the impact of common household chemicals on water supplies, to an explanation of the links between clean water and healthy wildlife, were developed in partnership with the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA).

Dedicated to protecting the waters and the land of New Jersey’s 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region, GSWA will incorporate the students’ work into the organization’s upcoming Watershed Friendly Homes program.  GSWA Director of Education and Outreach Hazel England worked with DeTrolio to design the classroom collaboration and provided guidance and support to students as their research progressed.

“GSWA was excited to initiate this project and collaborate with students from a school within the watershed,” said England.  “Their work will form a cornerstone for future outreach to residents in Bernardsville and the nine other towns of the Great Swamp Watershed as GSWA launches its new Watershed Friendly Homes program aimed at changing water use behavior in the region.”

Students were asked to present their final projects over the course of two days to an audience made up of their peers and several visiting environmental experts from GSWA and other local community groups.  Visiting experts were asked to assess each group’s presentation, and choose their favorites.

Awards for excellence went to four groups of students.  Seniors Lauren Thomann, Abby Parker, and Erin O’Brien chose to survey their peers and the surrounding Bernardsville community to learn more about local water use and what might keep people from engaging in more conservation-oriented behavior.

Senior Morgan Blain, senior Christian Torres, and junior Jon Carter explored the true cost of bottled water production and what it would take to convince consumers to replace boutique water brands with ordinary, clean tap water.

Seniors Bina Patel, Kathryn Levin, and Edi Lima ventured under the sink to discover more about the environmental effects of those household cleaning products we all use and wash down the drain when we are done with them.

Seniors Addie Clayton, Erin Doran, and Sophie Reddi documented the construction of a rain barrel they and their friends built from scratch.  Their double-barrel rainwater collection system, which cost $200 to construct, is already at work diverting rain from the roof of Bernards High School into a courtyard garden where it nourishes a multitude of watershed friendly native plants.

A fifth group, which included seniors Matt Whitlock, Katie Hildebrandt, and Till Rosscamp, went above and beyond their teacher’s requirements and submitted their project to The Nature Conservancy for consideration in the environmental organization’s Show Us Your H2O competition for school groups and civic organizations from New Jersey’s Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, and Somerset Counties.  Structuring their research to meet stringent contest parameters, the trio created a presentation that carefully tracked the source of drinking water for the Borough of Bernardsville, and systematically analyzed the environmental risks facing that water supply.

Their hard work was repaid in full when they took top honors for their submission.  As a reward, Matt, Katie, and Till will be acknowledged for their integral role in the placement of a new rain garden that The Nature Conservancy of New Jersey will construct free of charge on the grounds of Bernards High.

“I am so pleased with the success of the project for both the GSWA and for my students,” said Bernards High teacher Karen DeTrolio.  “It provided my classes with a meaningful project-based learning experience, and the GSWA with the building blocks for their Watershed Friendly Homes program.  As a teacher, it was incredibly rewarding to watch my students apply what they learned throughout the year to a real-life situation.”

Congratulations to all of the participating Bernards H.S. students for a job well done.  Their work will appear online early this fall as part of GSWA’s Watershed Friendly Homes program.

Did You Know? The Cicadas Are Here!

by Jim Northrop

Most insects follow an annual cycle of birth, life and then death.  Seasonal changes in temperature often cue these insect life stages. However, a very noticeable exception to that rule is presently occurring.

Cicadas have emerged en masse, after 17 years in the ground. They are clambering into trees and singing a distinctive chorus that can be heard for miles because of their numerous voices. While there are many kinds of cicadas, these 17-year cicadas are a specific genus of cicada, called Periodical Cicadas (genus: Magicicada).

What makes this event so remarkable is that it results from 17 years of preparation. The now emerging army of Periodical Cicadas was born in 1996. Their mothers laid their eggs in the branches of trees. There they developed for a few weeks before hatching and heading for the ground. These larvae then squirmed into the dirt and spent the next 17 years sucking fluid from tree and plant roots.

Millions of cicada nymphs have now climbed from the ground in which they have spent nearly two decades. They will have morphed from wingless to winged creatures, and taken to the trees for their famously noisy courtship. The empty husks of the nymph-stage bugs are seemingly everywhere. Now, the newly emerged animals single-mindedly seek to mate and produce the next generation. And shortly after mating and after the eggs are laid, the adults will die. Surprisingly, cicadas barely eat a thing during their time above ground.

Their time in the sun is short, but their 17-year life span makes them the longest-lived insects known.

Cicadas will not emerge in everyone's back yard.  If there are no deciduous trees—trees that lose their leaves each fall, like maples, oaks and fruit trees—probably no cicadas will be seen. Pesticides, construction, extreme weather conditions, and tree removal are also factors reducing the incidence of cicadas. The overall emergence time for cicadas in a particular location typically is 4 to 6 weeks from the time the first nymph crawls from the ground, until the last adult dies.

Cicadas use a defensive strategy we could call "predator saturation." They reproduce by the millions in order to "fill up" the predators. The idea is that all the squirrels, birds, possums, snakes, lizards, raccoons and other predatory animals will become so full of cicadas that they tire of eating them. Then, just enough cicadas will escape and get to mate and reproduce.

Periodic Cicadas don't bother to escape when confronted, and that is because they do not have to escape. Since they emerge in such HUGE numbers, some members of their species are bound to survive no matter what. They can devote their limited energy and time above ground to calling and mating, rather than running away from each and every possible predator. This strategy may explain how an insect that neither bites nor stings, has managed to thrive.

Are cicadas locusts? No, true locusts belong in the same family of insects as grasshoppers. The confusion stems from the fact that both locusts and cicadas emerge in periodic swarms. But, locusts are far more destructive, destroying all plant life in their path. Cicadas do fly around trees and kill a few weakling branches here and there. They DO NOT kill flowers and would not damage shrubs and trees, unless the latter are young and immature. Cicadas do not damage tree leaves by chewing them as other insects do. Unlike grasshoppers and caterpillars, cicadas do not eat garden vegetables. They lack mouth parts that would enable them to chew.

Probably it is not a good idea to combat cicadas with pesticides. New cicadas will continually fly onto your trees from neighboring yards, making pesticides futile. Also, your pets could become poisoned from ingesting too many treated cicadas. Importantly, you will want to avoid the unintended collateral damage of killing honey bees and butterflies by using pesticides to disable cicadas. 

While cicadas in your back yard are a bit of a nuisance, remember that you are not going to see Periodic Cicadas again until the year 2030.