BuffaloBud Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 I am having a two day bonfire party this weekend. And I doubt that even puts a dent in the 3 ginormous piles of branches, tree limbs, weeds, and fallen debris I'm surprised that the local leaders are not asking for the material to be put to the curb so that they can pick up and haul away. When I lived in Raleigh during Hurricane Fran, the county came by and picked everything up and hauled it to a hugh open space. There were 3 of the biggest tub grinders working 24/7 grinding all the "waste" down to wood chips. Some company then came and picked up all the chips. I went around and picked up huge sections of oak (white and red) for firewood. Didn't have to buy firewood for about 3 years after that.
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 Per the Courant today, the current administration says they will not be enforcing that law/fines during the clean-up of Alfred. So companies that have the same equipment as "licensed arborists" will be allowed to prune back broken branches and those that pose a risk to power lines. In reality, all that law did was create another class of micro-specialization where the performers have come to charge a premium because of their relative scarcity. Contractors need a state license to cut a branch, if they're not cutting the whole tree down. I think we're going to look into renting one of those scissor-jack lifts to get some of the dead branches and one that have gotten too close to the house (and my teevee antennas!!) b/c while a contractor needs a license, a homeowner can do what s/he wants. I couldn't say it any better than that the laws promote procrastination/inaction on things that need to get done to help ensure power lines stay up. But the thing is, I really can't find any way to argue against this article linked below from a geologist who's saying that with a scientifically-proven stronger storms AND more rapid tree growth with increased levels of CO2 / longer growing seasons, burying power lines is going to be necessary to prevent these kind of outages from being more and more frequent. In the past two months, two weeks of this state's economic productivity has been lost. Even out of 52 weeks, that's significant. Two out 8 --- it's unacceptable to not begin addressing the problem. Robert Thorson: Had Enough? Bury The Power Lines I noticed ever since I have been in IL (about 20 years), every summer there are always contractor crews for the utility companys working to trim trees away from overhead service on public property... Usually out of state companies from places like Ohio and Michigan. Literally the power lines in my neck of the woods are free of growth... The trees look odd with th power lines going right through and out of the way. Now my neighborhood is a bit newer (mid 1990's)... Power is underground in this section. YET, my neighbor was having power issues a few years back and ComEd discovered the fault right in the middle of my lawn... They fixed it, but did a crappy job putting the grass back... Even by my crappy grass standards! What I don't understand is how they allow people to plant under power lines... Can't there be an ord against planting near the lines? ...Like how all those trees were on the levees in NOLA... What were they thinking early on?... I was in NOLA a bunch of years before Katrina and noticed it... Why didn't they stump them years ago? And yes, stump them leaving the root system in tact... Ugly, but it holds the levee in place... After Katrina, people were freaking when the chainsaws came marching in.
UConn James Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 I noticed ever since I have been in IL (about 20 years), every summer there are always contractor crews for the utility companys working to trim trees away from overhead service on public property... Usually out of state companies from places like Ohio and Michigan. Literally the power lines in my neck of the woods are free of growth... The trees look odd with th power lines going right through and out of the way. Now my neighborhood is a bit newer (mid 1990's)... Power is underground in this section. YET, my neighbor was having power issues a few years back and ComEd discovered the fault right in the middle of my lawn... They fixed it, but did a crappy job putting the grass back... Even by my crappy grass standards! What I don't understand is how they allow people to plant under power lines... Can't there be an ord against planting near the lines? ...Like how all those trees were on the levees in NOLA... What were they thinking early on?... I was in NOLA a bunch of years before Katrina and noticed it... Why didn't they stump them years ago? And yes, stump them leaving the root system in tact... Ugly, but it holds the levee in place... After Katrina, people were freaking when the chainsaws came marching in. A company came thru here about 5-6 years ago, contracted by CL&P to cut branches. We had to sign a waiver allowing them to cut trees that are on our property. We signed it. They came by. They cut any part that physically touched the lines, to a length just so it didn't touch the lines. Not an inch more. Now, that may have been a management decision to decrease the amount of material crews had to deal with/time on the clock. But it may well have been a worker decision to get paid then and a bit of job security when it grows back w/in two months. CT's problem is that they only do this every ten years, maybe. We need to either clear a LOT of trees and be aggressive about it, or bite the bullet one time, bury the !@#$ing lines and not have these perennial costs and frequent major outages. The total cost of these storms is astronomical when you add up all the macrocosm costs --- food spoilage, lost productivity from businesses unable to operate, inefficient use of gasoline in generators, people dying (eight so far) & hospitalized (I believe I saw a count in the 500s) from CO poisoning because they tried to heat with gas grills, etc.... You know, it may be a dumb--- thing to do when you read about it, but when temps are in the low 20s at night, people get desperate. I read those stories and thank God for our wood stove and woodlot & generator. Now, whose responsibility is a matter of dispute which gets out of hand when more than one or two people discuss it. And so, we've had a long time of passing the buck and a lot of indecision.
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 5, 2011 Posted November 5, 2011 A company came thru here about 5-6 years ago, contracted by CL&P to cut branches. We had to sign a waiver allowing them to cut trees that are on our property. We signed it. They came by. They cut any part that physically touched the lines, to a length just so it didn't touch the lines. Not an inch more. Now, that may have been a management decision to decrease the amount of material crews had to deal with/time on the clock. But it may well have been a worker decision to get paid then and a bit of job security when it grows back w/in two months. CT's problem is that they only do this every ten years, maybe. We need to either clear a LOT of trees and be aggressive about it, or bite the bullet one time, bury the !@#$ing lines and not have these perennial costs and frequent major outages. The total cost of these storms is astronomical when you add up all the macrocosm costs --- food spoilage, lost productivity from businesses unable to operate, inefficient use of gasoline in generators, people dying (eight so far) & hospitalized (I believe I saw a count in the 500s) from CO poisoning because they tried to heat with gas grills, etc.... You know, it may be a dumb--- thing to do when you read about it, but when temps are in the low 20s at night, people get desperate. I read those stories and thank God for our wood stove and woodlot & generator. Now, whose responsibility is a matter of dispute which gets out of hand when more than one or two people discuss it. And so, we've had a long time of passing the buck and a lot of indecision. I am all for burying!! Comed here just got the increase and over-ride of Quinn's veto. I wonder how things will play out with the masses
KD in CA Posted November 6, 2011 Posted November 6, 2011 A company came thru here about 5-6 years ago, contracted by CL&P to cut branches. We had to sign a waiver allowing them to cut trees that are on our property. We signed it. They came by. They cut any part that physically touched the lines, to a length just so it didn't touch the lines. Not an inch more. Now, that may have been a management decision to decrease the amount of material crews had to deal with/time on the clock. But it may well have been a worker decision to get paid then and a bit of job security when it grows back w/in two months. CT's problem is that they only do this every ten years, maybe. We need to either clear a LOT of trees and be aggressive about it, or bite the bullet one time, bury the !@#$ing lines and not have these perennial costs and frequent major outages. I called CL&P when I moved in to this house and told them a branch was sitting right on the line. They told me that since it was the line running between the street and my house, it was my problem. At least until the branch brings the line down I suppose. Since I have so many huge, old trees, I bit the bullet anyway and had a crew spend a day doing some heavy duty pruning. It wasn't cheap, but I haven't had any major tree issues through all these storms over the past few years since then so I'll consider it money well spent. Yeah, I have no idea what people who don't have a fireplace, nearby family, generator, etc. are doing. Over a week now for some of you.....ridiculous.
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