Residents living at a condo complex in Danvers, Massachusetts, are upset that trees were recently taken down in their neighborhood.
“It looks like a tornado ripped through here,” said Royal Park Condo Trustee Jennifer Fraser.
“I burst into tears when I saw it Tuesday, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Trustee Rose Crocker added.
Residents of the condo complex had a rude awakening when the trees were taken down last week.
“Tuesday morning, I woke up to chainsaws,” Crocker said.
Tree crews working for the Tennessee Gas Pipeline had cut down several large trees along the pipeline easement on Royal Park Condominiums property on Sylvan Street, before their equipment broke.
“We were never notified and they came down and took out eight of our trees,” Fraser said.
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Tennessee Gas parent company Kinder Morgan said in a statement:
“The work is critically important because Tennessee Gas routinely aerially patrols pipelines to observe surface conditions for indications of leaks, third-party construction activity, erosion and other factors that may affect the safe operation of the pipeline.”
Town Hall received a letter two months ago alerting them that trees might be cleared, but residents say none of them got written notice.
“The pipeline’s been in the ground since the 1950’s, they probably are not maintaining their easements as often as they should,” Danvers Town Manager Steve Bartha said. “We’re hoping for better communications moving forward and certainly more routine maintenance to prevent this type of scope being needed as often.”
In the meantime, residents took matters into their own hands, and the tree crews haven’t been back.
“We just parked our cars there, so they couldn’t get in,” Crocker said.
A meeting is being held at 7 p.m. Monday between condo trustees and a representative for the pipeline company.
Kinder Morgan said it has by-passed the remaining work for now, but expects to finish up by mid-April.
