14 ~ Friday, August 29, 1986 - North Shore News

Tree Talk
By Brian Fisher

I AM frequently asked about
the tree trimming done by B.C.
Hydro and Power Authority
Near power lines.

B.C. Hydro has the right and
the responsibility to keep trees
from endangering or growing
into their power lines.

This respe-nsibility is twofold:
trees that come in contact with
power lines may cause
“‘outages’’ that is, a failure of
the system to deliver electrical
power to your home; the high,
upper lines on most power poles
carry a significant voltage and
trees tiiat come in contact with
these lines might, in fact,
becume energized themselves.

This could cause injury or
even kill someone who was
climbing in or touching the tree.

The middie lines on power
poles are usually ‘‘service
wires”’ carrying 220 volts.

These could cause serious in-
jury to anyone touching them
directly. (These are the same
voltage as the lines running
from the road to your home,
which it is your responsibility to
have cleared.)

The lower lines are usually
telephone and cable which are
less dangerous.

Needless to say, cleaving of
power lines is very important to
B.C. Hydro, (they spend $3 to 6
million per year on vegetation
control.)

Their interest, however, is
line clearance; proper
maintenance of trees is not a
part of their objective.

Most power line trimming is
done on contract by the low
bidder.

The contractors who bid
these contracts know that B.C.
Hydro wants to buy “‘eight feet
of air’, and bid accordingly.

At the same time, the con-
tracts are written in such a way
that if there was ever any dif-
ficulty, the contractor would be
responsible.

In all fairness to B.C. Hydro,
the requirement of adequate
clearance fulfils their obliga-
tion.

In rural areas, the roadside
trees are often just wild
undesirable species, and in ur-
ban areas, they are often road
screens or people don’t care and
are happy to have B.C. Hydro
trim the trees down. (It won’t
kill them, after all.)

The only problem then is
those exceptional cases where
there are desirable trees that are
growing under or near power
lines.

If you have such trees, you
can complain to B.C. Hydro
after the fact, or make requests
ahead of time, but, the safest
most reliable way to protect
your trees is to have them done
properly, yourself, before the
contractor crews arrive.

This way you are assured of
high quality workmanship and
trees done the way you want
them done.

Powerlines deserve your
respect and B.C. Hydro is very
cooperative.

If you have trees that are
growing into or near the main
power lines, never trim them or
take them down yourself.

Have a qualified tree com-
pany do it for you. They will
make arrangements with B.C.
Hydro if necessary.

The lines running to your

house should be clear of trees,

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