Company says trimming the trees keeps the power on and avoids fires
When Entergy started trimming the oak trees along South Destrehan Boulevard, a livid Vicki Tramonte contacted everyone she thought might help spare her two trees from being “butchered” to clear the way for power lines.
“It’s what you see when you drive by River Road and by St. Borromeo Catholic Church,” Tramonte said of oaks being iconic to the historic community and St. Charles Parish, as well as being about shade and aesthetics. “It’s just part of what you’ve always seen in the old pictures. They’re part of the community.”
Company spokesman Mike Burns said Entergy “takes seriously our responsibility to provide customers with safe, reliable electric service, which is why we work to keep our lines as clear as possible of vegetation and other debris that can cause an outage. Even on a sunny day, a single tree making contact with a power line may interrupt service to hundreds of homes and businesses. If electric service is lost to medical facilities, water systems, traffic lights or emergency providers, the results can seriously impact the community.”
In 2008, Baton Rouge’s extensive, long power outages from Hurricane Gustav raised questions about downed trees putting about 1.5 million people in the dark and for more than three weeks in some areas. The extent of the damage also raised questions about the integrity of Entergy’s power grid and whether powerlines should be underground.
In Destrehan, Tramonte said she concedes Entergy must trim trees, but she opposes it “butchering” them or leaving 10-foot “V” shaped gouges in them, slashing their tops or even requiring the trees be cut entirely, which she maintained has substantially altered the ambiance that drew her to the area.
Neighbor Ava Hidalgo said Entergy gouged her oak tree so badly that it should have just cut the whole tree down.“The way they cut it they killed it,” Hidalgo said. “It looks horrible. We didn’t get no notice or nothing.”
Hidalgo, along with neighbor Claire Mayor, say when they tried to ask Entergy to trim the trees to make them look like trees again they encountered workers who couldn’t speak English.
Mayor, who said she also cares about the three oaks on her property, pointed to the nearest one neighboring Harry Hurst Middle School and said Entergy wanted to cut it earlier, but she refused to remove her vehicle from the driveway so they left.
She’s not optimistic the crew will leave her tree as is,however.
“They’re butchering it this year,” said Mayor, adding they will cut into a tree more than 85 years old.
Her backyard is a haven for the two other oaks that are more than 65 years old and registered with the Live Oak Society in Montz.
Mayor, as did Tramonte and Hidalgo, all agreed the trees must be trimmed, but questioned Entergy’s refusal to at least trim them in a more aesthetically pleasing way rather leaving them deeply gouged and exposed to disease, as well as pending liability from breaking branches.
“It doesn’t even look like a tree,” Mayor said pointing to the large gouge in Tramonte’s oak tree. “Couldn’t they trim it like a tree?”
Tramonte agreed.
One of the people she contacted for help was Coleen Perilloux Landry, chair of the Live Oak Society in Montz, who confirmed she got Tramonte’s email about Entergy cutting her trees.
Landry questioned Entergy’s claim that it hires a tree specialist.
“They hire tree hackers and do not respect the live oaks,” she said.
Burns responded, “We take a proactive, rather than reactive approach to tree lines. We hire professionals to trim the trees in the healthiest way possible to minimize impact on the trees.” He added, “Entergy takes a proactive approach to ‘vegetation management’ and only cuts trees to maintain reliability, as well as takes care to keep the trees healthy.
Burns also said the company files a tree trimming plan with the Louisiana Public Service Commission every year, and it follows the specifications set by the International Society of Arboriculture on tree cutting.
“We follow these best practices,” he said.
Burns said Entergy has received the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Line USA award that recognizes best practices in public and private utility arboriculture. These practices are aimed at promoting goals for delivering energy while maintaining the trees.
Tramonte disagreed.
“The issue affects many people in the parish,” she said. “I don’t see why Entergy can’t find a reasonable compromise to help save the trees and at least cut them to where they’re aesthetically pleasing. Let’s try at least to leave it looking like a tree.”
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