By Mary O’KEEFE

Southern California Edison continues sending crews out around the Crescenta Valley to trim trees. The reason for the trimming has at its foundation in fire safety. 

SCE has contracted with tree services to cut branches and limbs near electrical wires. The difference this year is new requirements by the state that recommend clearance of 12 feet from power lines, as opposed to past recommendations of six feet. These are new requirements for areas deemed at high risk for fire.

The problem for some residents is the way the trees are being trimmed. The Crescenta Valley Community Association had a meeting prior to SCE sending tree crews out to the neighborhoods. They met because they were concerned about the method of trimming, not only the resulting aesthetics but also for the health of the tree.

The concern over the way the trees are being trimmed inspired Sharon Raghavachary, who is on the CVCA steering committee, to create a Facebook page “Protect La Crescenta Trees,” a place where residents can share their tree trimming stories.

Raghavachary said when residents met with SCE representative Gerry Avila he said they do not trim all trees to 12 feet.

“Every time I talked to Gerry he promised that anyone who has trees in the front of their property would be notified 24 hours prior to trimming,” she said.

But that has not always been the case. A resident in the 5100 block of La Crescenta Avenue found SCE crews at her home without warning.

“Mario’s Tree Service showed up on June 5 and began trimming my oldest oak tree. They were done before I could stop them and they did not knock on the door as promised before they began trimming,” said resident Dede Mueller, who was also at the CVCA meeting with SCE representatives and spoke to the representatives about hiring her own arborist. At the time Avila said it was not necessary for her to hire her own arborist.

“I sent Mr. Avila a letter stating that I was hiring my own certified arborist and to please not touch my trees. I invited him out to look at my trees before they were trimmed and I also included the date [the arborist would be there]. He replied that he would send an inspector out to check my elm after it was trimmed,” she said.

If the SCE inspector found it was not done properly Avila would then send a crew out. It had cost Mueller almost $1,000 to fix the damage of SCE’s over-pruning in the past and she did not want that to occur again.

“On Tuesday, Mario’s attempted to trim a tree on county property; it was the Deodar tree that was already severely trimmed and leaning across the street from [my residence],” she said. “The owner of the house that the tree was in front of was standing there amazed that they were trimming it back more. He also spent thousands to trim his trees and the county did come back and re-trimmed them.”

Mueller told the neighbor that he could request the tree trimming to stop, which he did. The tree trimming crew said there was an arborist with them and was, in fact, the person trimming the tree. The neighbors were told a supervisor would be there to speak to them but no one ever spoke to them.

SCE released a statement concerning the La Crescenta tree trimming: “Southern California Edison understands the trimming of trees is a sensitive issue for many of our customers; however, our priority is the safety of the public and the reliability of the power grid. State regulations require utilities to trim trees or vegetation so they don’t grow into or fall into high-voltage power lines, which can cause a power outage, spark a fire or be a danger to the public.

“To meet new guidelines adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission in 2017, SCE is trimming 12 feet between a tree and power line in high fire risk areas to ensure the minimum clearance is maintained. State law prohibits arborists and tree trimmers who are not certified to work near high-voltage power lines to trim within 10 feet of a line. SCE’s arborists and tree trimmers are certified to do this work and the trimming is done according to tree care industry standards.

Although done correctly to maintain needed safety and to preserve the health of the tree, the results of the pruning may not always be aesthetically pleasing.”

SCE spokeswoman Mary Ann Milbourn stated SCE was working with the homeowner of the property on La Crescenta Avenue. They stopped the trimming when the homeowner objected “pending resolution of the issue.”

Anyone who is concerned about the trimming can join the Facebook page.

  Mary Okeefe