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Officials with PG&E plan to begin a new round of outreach to Mountain View homeowners as they seek to clear trees and other obstructions above gas mains running through their yards. This time around, the utility is pledging to engage Mountain View residents on friendly, cooperative terms after the company’s tough stance three years ago backfired, generating a groundswell of resistance.
Making safety upgrades to the utility’s natural-gas network of pipes has been a big priority since the 2010 San Bruno pipeline explosion that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes. In the aftermath of that disaster, the company committed $500 million to clear obstructions that could hinder access to its 6,750 miles of gas lines.
But that effort spurred a fierce backlash among residents in Mountain View, as well as other communities, when it was proposed in 2012. At the time, PG&E officials went door-to-door in some neighborhoods and warned residents they needed to remove trees, sheds and anything else that might block an aerial view of the pipeline.
In Mountain View, push-back against the plan was centered in neighborhoods such as San Lucas Avenue. Residents took their complaints public and launched a website devoted to the issue. They complained that PG&E’s was essentially calling for them to strip their backyards bare.
Residents who refused to cooperate were warned by PG&E that they could face legal action.
In retrospect, utility officials say they shouldn’t have taken such a “heavy-handed” approach. The company now hopes to hit the restart button and find a better way to work with residents, said Jeff Smith, PG&E spokesman.
“Previously, we did an inadequate job explaining the purpose of the program and why it’s important,” Smith said. “We were getting as focused as we could on safety, and we weren’t listening to our customers and making sure their needs were met.”
Company officials say obstructions must be removed in order to provide access for emergency responders. The company also wants a clear aerial view to easily monitor the pipeline using laser sensors mounted on an aircraft. Smith said having items blocking the pipeline is like parking a car in front of a fire hydrant.
In general, the company says that trees and other items could need to be removed if they are within 5 to 10 feet of the pipeline. This time around, PG&E officials promise they will talk to residents and determine if obstructions need to removed on a case-by-case basis. If a tree absolutely must be removed, the company would pay for a replacement planted elsewhere, Smith said.
In its outreach, the company wants to show customers that it is willing to be flexible and offer an array of options, Smith said.
It remains to be seen whether such pledges will forge a better relationship with impacted homeowners. In the San Lucas neighborhood, residents had advocated for PG&E to relocate the gas main from under their properties to the adjacent San Veron Park. If safety was truly the utility’s goal, then PG&E should focus on moving the pipeline away from people’s homes, said San Lucas resident Eileen Feruzzi Telleria.
“This gas pipe is 10 feet from people’s bedrooms and they have an opportunity to put it someplace else,” she said. “But instead they’re going to destroy people’s backyards for their own benefit.”
It is unclear exactly how many tree could require removal by PG&E. In an email, company representatives said they had already reviewed just under 700 trees on public land in Mountain View. Of those, 98 were marked for removal because they were too close to the pipe. New trees will be planted in safer locations to replace any that are removed, Smith said.
More than 1,000 trees on private property in Mountain View will be reviewed by utility workers in the near future. Later this month, affected property owners can expect receive a letter and a follow-up phone call from PG&E.
Email Mark Noack at mnoack@mv-voice.com
While PG&E reaches out to the community, perhaps they can also remove the unnecessary signs on the Whisman Road overpass that are completely blocking the bike lane on the east side during their work hours. The work starts north of Whisman Station Road, so these aren’t needed, and they force bicyclists into a 35-mile-per-hour traffic lane. Very dangerous.
All wannabe homeowners should check regularly to make sure that there are no PGE or any other right-of-way claimsupon their property. Never, ever buy a house that has any such claims attached to its legal title. They will just cause grief. Only buy homes an lots that have no legal strings attached to their titles. BTW, this includes solar lease contracts. Never install solar unless you buy it outright.
PG&E wants to fly planes to check out their pipeline condition because it’s a lot cheaper than having someone on the ground check it out. The real reason they want people to tear out trees and sheds is because they want to give executives more bonuses. They could easily inspect in other ways.
Also, if they really cared about our safety, they would not have done road work and left the traffic light sensors at Rengstorff & Middlefield unable to detect bicycles.
Sounds very wasteful to remove all these trees for infrequent surveillance plane fly overs. Couldn’t PG&E use inspectors with drones to do that surveillance? Drones fly much lower and would probably be far more accurate without requiring so much clearance over the pipeline.