Neighbors angry after PSE&G fells dozens of trees

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

BY VIRGIL DICKSON

SPECIAL TO THE RECORD

LITTLE FALLS — For more than three decades a canopy of trees shaded the Trotter family home on Clove Road. Now, stumps and sawdust litter the ground.

Public Service Electric and Gas cut down the trees, believing they could interfere with power lines.

It's a decision that angers the Trotters because the family has enjoyed the foliage for 36 years.

"We're in the middle of a war out here," said Frank Totter Jr., 48. His family owns the land under the power lines, but PSE&G has a long-standing easement that allows the company to remove vegetation.

Since June 2007, the state Board of Public Utilities has received an estimated 144 complaints about downed trees, officials said, adding that no remedial action has been taken.

Ever since a massive blackout in 2003 that left 50 million people in the Northeast and southeastern Canada in the dark, the federal government issued a mandate that the states must establish "vegetation management" plans for utilities.

Now PSE&G is entering the second week of cutting down dozens of trees on Clove Road under the state vegetation management rules enacted by the BPU in December 2006.

"We are complying with regulations, and we have a responsibility to maintain safe, reliable service," Karen Johnson, a PSE&G spokeswoman, said Friday.

BPU officials said it is important that the state's utilities understand the importance of managing the vegetation.

"Because the state is the most densely populated in the nation, a power-line failure here has the potential to affect a far greater proportion of the population." Doyal Siddell, a Board of Public Utilities spokesman, said Monday.

But some Clove Road residents living in the area where the trees once stood share the Trotters' disappointment.

For Arlene Krell, who has lived on Clove Road for 38 years, PSE&G's downing of the trees has been devastating.

"Every time I look over there, I could cry," Krell said Friday.

Another resident, Maya Kharawala, 41, said she was frustrated that she received only 24 hours' notice before PSG&E came to cut down trees. Like Trotter, she owns the property under the power lines, subject to the same easement.

PSE&G hired Nelson Tree Service of Ohio to remove the trees and instructed the company to cut down anything below the wires that could grow more than 3 feet and any tree on the edge of the power lines that could grow more than 15 feet.

Frank Trotter Sr. said demolishing the trees has been especially difficult as he and his son had put a lot of work into the vegetation on their property.

When the elder Trotter was informed PSE&G would be coming to cut down trees, he requested a liability waiver for any damage done to his property. The utility refused, he said.

"It's killing me, and my wife is in tears," said Trotter, 74. Mayor Eugene Kulick said municipalities' hands are tied by law and cannot provide relief. "There is nothing we can do."

With the exception of PSE&G, Little Falls officials said that those interested in cutting down or pruning trees on public property must go through the local Shade Tree Commission. Though it will be too late for Clove Road residents, Siddell said the BPU has taken the complaints under consideration and may revise the current vegetation management rules.

"The board will accept public comment and will hold public stakeholder meetings this summer," Siddell said. "After which time, the revised rules will be published in the New Jersey Register for additional public comment."

E-mail: dickson@northjersey.com.

LITTLE FALLS — For more than three decades a canopy of trees shaded the Trotter family home on Clove Road. Now, stumps and sawdust litter the ground.

Public Service Electric and Gas cut down the trees, believing they could interfere with power lines.

It's a decision that angers the Trotters because the family has enjoyed the foliage for 36 years.

"We're in the middle of a war out here," said Frank Totter Jr., 48. His family owns the land under the power lines, but PSE&G has a long-standing easement that allows the company to remove vegetation.

Since June 2007, the state Board of Public Utilities has received an estimated 144 complaints about downed trees, officials said, adding that no remedial action has been taken.

Ever since a massive blackout in 2003 that left 50 million people in the Northeast and southeastern Canada in the dark, the federal government issued a mandate that the states must establish "vegetation management" plans for utilities.

Now PSE&G is entering the second week of cutting down dozens of trees on Clove Road under the state vegetation management rules enacted by the BPU in December 2006.

"We are complying with regulations, and we have a responsibility to maintain safe, reliable service," Karen Johnson, a PSE&G spokeswoman, said Friday.

BPU officials said it is important that the state's utilities understand the importance of managing the vegetation.

"Because the state is the most densely populated in the nation, a power-line failure here has the potential to affect a far greater proportion of the population." Doyal Siddell, a Board of Public Utilities spokesman, said Monday.

But some Clove Road residents living in the area where the trees once stood share the Trotters' disappointment.

For Arlene Krell, who has lived on Clove Road for 38 years, PSE&G's downing of the trees has been devastating.

"Every time I look over there, I could cry," Krell said Friday.

Another resident, Maya Kharawala, 41, said she was frustrated that she received only 24 hours' notice before PSG&E came to cut down trees. Like Trotter, she owns the property under the power lines, subject to the same easement.

PSE&G hired Nelson Tree Service of Ohio to remove the trees and instructed the company to cut down anything below the wires that could grow more than 3 feet and any tree on the edge of the power lines that could grow more than 15 feet.

Frank Trotter Sr. said demolishing the trees has been especially difficult as he and his son had put a lot of work into the vegetation on their property.

When the elder Trotter was informed PSE&G would be coming to cut down trees, he requested a liability waiver for any damage done to his property. The utility refused, he said.

"It's killing me, and my wife is in tears," said Trotter, 74. Mayor Eugene Kulick said municipalities' hands are tied by law and cannot provide relief. "There is nothing we can do."

With the exception of PSE&G, Little Falls officials said that those interested in cutting down or pruning trees on public property must go through the local Shade Tree Commission. Though it will be too late for Clove Road residents, Siddell said the BPU has taken the complaints under consideration and may revise the current vegetation management rules.

"The board will accept public comment and will hold public stakeholder meetings this summer," Siddell said. "After which time, the revised rules will be published in the New Jersey Register for additional public comment."

E-mail: dickson@northjersey.com.

Source: The Record online edition at NorthJersey.com.