PG&E not done with trees

More than a dozen community members and tree lovers turned out for a meeting at the Durham Memorial Hall on Tuesday to hear PG&E’s plan to remove 32 trees along the Midway and replace them with 48 native trees. It’s all part of the Pipeline Pathways Project, which caused a furor in Oroville last year when century-old giants were felled outside a cemetery.

Many at the meeting were concerned that the company’s plan would change the character of the beloved street. They questioned why the trees had to be removed or why they couldn’t be transplanted.

“Removing the trees now is absolutely senseless as far as I’m concerned,” said Scott Wineland, a local arborist. “I know for a fact that those roots are right on the surface.”

PG&E representatives said using tree transplanting equipment that close to a gas pipeline is too dangerous. Work could begin as early as this spring.