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PG&E, Bidwell Park Panel To Discuss Chico Tree Removal

Marc Albert
/
NSPR

The fate of between 33 and 86 trees along a proposed Chico park will be the subject of a likely animated discussion at the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission meeting Monday evening.

The trees were identified by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. as presenting risks to a half-century-old natural gas transmission line.

The city and opponents of the plan may hold little sway. A report prepared for the commission identifies the area as within an easement granted to the company in the 1950s. The documents appear to allow PG&E to proceed with plans with or without the commission or the city’s approval. The company, however, will have to abide by city rules requiring that the removed trees be replaced. The tallest tree considered problematic is 55 feet tall.

The pipeline lies beneath a proposed walking and cycling path roughly following Edgar Slough, also known as Comanche Creek, west of The Midway in Chico.

PG&E has identified 33 trees as presenting an unacceptable risk to the pipeline. About half of those are oaks. The company considers a further 53 trees as presenting manageable risk.

The program, which PG&E renamed its Community Pipeline Safety Initiative, has been sharply criticized by activists as unnecessarily removing trees.

The company had in the past claimed that tree roots could puncture pipelines, though could not produce any instance of that occurring. PG&E now says that trees and tree roots could hinder first responders from accessing a pipeline in an emergency.

The meeting gets underway Monday at 6:30 in the council chambers. 

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