Of course with my luck it didn't come out right. Oh well, I copied this off their web site.
Tree cutting upsets residents
MATTHEW JABLONSKI
THE PATENT TRADER
(Original publication: June 17, 2004)
Con Edison blamed miscommunication when routine vegetation maintenance resulted in the unnecessary destruction of several trees on the utility company's property in Yorktown last week.
Between three and 10 trees that were marked for pruning were cut down instead by contract workers hired by Con Ed to eliminate threats the trees posed to nearby high-tension power lines that stretch about 10 miles across the town, according to Bruce Barber, the town's environmental planner.
Barber said he's been working for two months with a consultant for Con Edison, marking trees along the stretch, some for removal and some that would only be pruned or topped off.
Yorktown and Con Edison were trying to develop a plan that would balance the needs of the nearby residents, natural resources and the safety and security of the power lines, Barber said.
"Our contractor removed trees we were going to leave or top off and he left trees we were supposed to move," said Dan Lyons, a public affairs official with Con Edison. "There was definitely a communications breakdown."
The mishap left some town officials wondering how Con Edison would handle routine vegetation maintenance in the future.
Yorktown Attorney Kevin Sweeney said Chapter 48, article 7 of New York state's Public Service Law prohibits a local municipality from requiring approval, consent or a permit from a major utility transmission facility. In other words, Con Edison doesn't have to abide by any local environmental protection laws while the utility company is ensuring the safety of its transmission corridor.
Still, Sweeney said, Con Edison had submitted a maintenance plan to Barber and the Town Board outlining its vegetation maintenance plan, which didn't include any clear-cutting of trees. Con Ed notified the town in January or February, according to Sweeney, that they were exempt from applying for wetland permits and soil and erosion permits as necessary. But they didn't tell the town they would deviate from their maintenance plan.
"The town was under the impression Con Edison would continue to operate under the guidelines previously submitted to the town," said Sweeney, who also said a number of residents have made reports that the utility company was engaging in activity that seemed to be outside the scope of what they proposed to do.
Dr. Patricia Podolak's home sits right near the Con Edison corridor where the trees were mistakenly removed. Last week, when she saw heavy equipment operating close to her home and red flags along her property line, she immediately confronted the workers, who told her they received a directive from Con Edison to clear everything between the flags, all the way to a nearby wetland buffer zone.
Podolak phoned Barber and Councilman Nick Bianco, who both came to assess the situation. She said she was concerned with her own safety and security, and was upset that the tree line that had once provided privacy to her home was destroyed. Podolak, who has lived in her home for almost 50 years and is a former member of the Yorktown Conservation Board, was also upset that the town has no way of protecting the nearby wetlands.
"They can destroy wetlands and work with substandard procedures and the town stands powerless."
Bianco said when he arrived on the scene he knew something had gone wrong. "It was like Sherman's march to the sea," he said. "They were a little too aggressive and too eager."
Reached Tuesday, Lyons said that Con Edison had met with Podolak that morning and the company is considering remediation suggestions that she proposed.
"We're contacting experts in the field to see what (type vegetation) would be appropriate."
Lyons said Con Edison is very sensitive to the needs of its neighbors along the entire corridor and they would take steps to ensure better communication with their landscaping contractors.
Meanwhile, Barber said that he's had discussions with Con Edison since the incident near Podolak's house took place last week and the utility company has assured him that landscaping crews will not do anything until they are clear on all procedure issues. He also said that he'd continue walking the corridor with Con Edison's arborist to identify the trees that present the most danger to the safety and reliability of the utility's infrastructure.
Overgrown vegetation can cause the transmission lines to arch and result in brownouts or blackouts of a substantial nature. Barber started marking trees along the corridor in April at Yorktown's southern border near the Croton Reservoir and will continue working north until he reaches the Putnam Valley border, slightly north of Route 6N.
"Up until this point it has been a successful partnership balancing their needs and our requirements," Barber said, adding that Yorktown was one of the few municipalities working with Con Edison to preserve natural resources and maintain the interests of its residents. Barber added that Con Edison, in an effort to protect natural resources — specifically wetlands — has agreed not to use herbicides and has used hand tools in whenever possible to reduce erosion and habitat damage.