PG&E targets 100-plus Gilroy trees

GILROY—More than 100 trees on Gilroy’s east side will be cut down or trimmed by PG&E so first responders can get to an underground gas pipeline if disaster strikes.
Most of the trees, and some bushes, grow along the east side of Forest Street near the downtown but others are along Highway 152, according to the city and a PG&E project description.
“There is nothing to be alarmed about…we want to do this carefully,” Gilroy Public Works Director Rick Smelser said Monday. Plans still are very preliminary, he said.
Smelser was briefed by PG&E last week and said details of the project have yet to be worked out. The work will be done gradually and not aggressively, he said.
 “We don’t want to do a clear-cut, this is a long, on-going program,” he said. “We don’t want to disrupt the neighborhood.”
The PG&E project is part of a safety effort aimed at the utility’s 6,750-miles of natural gas pipeline statewide and that involves inspections of all trees near underground natural gas pipelines.
“In addition to the preventing critical access for first responders and firefighters, tree roots can pose a serious safety risk by damaging underground pipelines by impacting the protective coating, leading to corrosion. This important gas safety work will help prevent gas leaks and speed up response times in the event of an emergency,” according to PG&E spokesman Shaun Maccoun.
All of the work will be on the surface and no digging will occur, he said, adding PG&E inspections have shown that all of the underground piping is operating safely.
After an “in-depth review” of every tree on city land or within PG&E right of ways, the utility company found 99 trees and 18 bush areas “…in close proximity to the gas pipeline,” that that could impeded first responders, according to a Feb. 27 letter to the city from Eric Daniels, a PG&E government relations specialist.
Another 17 trees and 35 bush areas were found on private property, according to PG&E, and would be included in the project.
The utility’s safety program has four goals. It’s designed to ensure that first responders have quick access to underground pipelines in emergencies and natural disasters; that pipes can more easily be inspected and maintained; that roots do not damage the pipeline; and that there is clear visibility in and near pipelines areas.
The project and others statewide come in the wake of a September 2010 natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., that killed eight people and prompted criticism and investigations of PG&E’s maintenance and safety programs.
In Gilroy, Maccoun said that PG&E will replace trees that need to be felled and will work closely with the city and community in planning and implementing the project. A robust educational outreach effort in the Forest Street neighborhood will be part of the program, he said.
Work is expected to begin in the next few months, according to Maccoun.
In an email to city council members, city administrator Tom Haglund last week said PG&E still is developing the project map and when it’s completed they will get copies. He offered the following description of the work area:
“It is a fairly limited area of the city that is affected and mostly east of Monterey along Forest Street and then winding its way over to Camino Arroyo and on to Highway 152 and Pacheco Pass.”
He said PG&E plans to “remove and replace trees,” and will involve property owners along the project route in the planning process.
“PG&E is working with (city) staff to develop a property owner education effort by which PG&E will make contact with their customers along the transmission line where these certain trees pose a future potential problem.”
Forest Street runs from just north of Leavesley Road almost to 10^th Street, but is interrupted at IOOF Avenue by the campus of South Valley Junior High School.
The exact path of the underground natural gas line was unclear and postings of pipeline route maps on the utility’s website do not go into great detail.
Smelser and Maccoun said that information is confidential for security reasons.
South from IOOF Avenue, the Dispatch counted roughly 30 to 40 mature trees along the east side of Forest Street as it runs though an older, residential neighborhood to 9^th Street.
Smelser said that what happens to each tree will depend mostly on its size, age and location relative to the underground pipe and other factors. A more thorough review will determine the fate of each one, he indicated.