It seems that many of the tens of thousands of trees damaged or destroyed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been converted to mulch as part of the cleanup process. Now, Louisiana has thousands upon thousands of tons of mulch, which are being offered for sale at ridiculously low prices to suppliers all over the country in an attempt to get rid of the stuff.
Unfortunately, trees from the New Orleans and neighboring areas are vulnerable to Formosan termite infestation. This is one of the most dangerous termites out there, and there are no known insecticide treatments to prevent it from spreading - the only treatment is to burn the infected wood. There is a serious risk of infected mulch showing up at major garden suppliers countrywide, and passing on this infestation to previously unaffected parts of the USA.
For more information, see
http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/termites/ and read some of the many articles referenced there.
