Published: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 / Updated: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009 03:28 PM
Fort Mill resident hopes to save trees
You can't fight the power company.
Edward Howe and Duke Energy have agreed to disagree over exactly how many trees the power company is entitled to cut on Howe's property and Howe is considering what options he has left.
Two weeks ago, Duke employees marked 225 trees on Howe's property on Doby's Bridge Road for removal. Most of the trees, Howe said, fall outside the 68-foot easement Duke holds across his land. The easement secures the path of a transmission line that carries power from Lake Wylie to the Van Wyck area, according to Duke spokesman Andy Thompson.
"I told them if they gave me $1 million they could cut as many trees as they want," Howe said. "They declined."
Several of the trees marked for removal were planted by Howe and his wife years ago. He contends most of the trees could get by with a trim and some need nothing at all. But Duke considers the marked trees outside its right-of-way "danger trees."
"We are charged by the Public Utilities Commission to provide power to our customers," Thompson said. "We have a vegetation management plan in place to trim and manage trees. It keeps trees from interfering in transmission."
"Danger trees" are labeled as such because in high winds they pose a danger of toppling into power or transmission lines. Duke cuts the trees, felling them away from the power lines, to make sure they don't knock out power in the future, Thompson said.
"Transmission lines [like the ones across Howe's property] supply electricity to large areas," Thompson said. "With transmission lines we pay particular attention to trees that could fall, because they can affect a lot of people."
When selecting trees to remove, Duke notifies property owners with a letter and a "door-hanger." The company offers to send out a representative to discuss the selected trees with property owners if they disagree or if they have questions, but ultimately in most cases, the company has the right to remove the trees.
Some factors considered include a tree's proximity to overhead lines, height of the tree and the type of line involved.
"A number of things go into the equation," Thompson said.
It's easy to see where Duke has recently cut trees, because the company leaves stacks of small logs on the land when it is done. It also offers the owners of the properties the wood chips produced by grinding up the smaller branches.
Howe doesn't know if he'll challenge the company in court. He does want his neighbors to be aware that their yard could be next though.
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