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Published March 13th, 2024
Letters to the editor

Safety Hazard Resolved

My thanks to our Town Manager, Scott Mitnick, and crew for their timely work done to eliminate a street safety hazard along Fernwood Drive near Stafford. This hazard has been an ongoing problem for several years. It appeared to be the result of nearby tree roots buckling the paving thus posing a possible loss of driver control to cyclists and drivers. It's gratifying to see our tax dollars at work in the Moraga community.

Dick Socolich,
Moraga
PG&E gas safety and tree cutting

Like other Lamorinda residents, I cherish my family's safety and our amazing natural surroundings. That's why I and many others have demanded PG&E inact better gas safety instead of destroying hundreds of cherished trees with a discretionary and discredited right-of-way clearing program.
PG&E's gas safety lapses are disturbing. Two of the five Lafayette gas transmission pipelines have never been hydrostatically strength tested. PG&E failed to install automated safety valves to most quickly shut off gas during an emergency. The CPUC found PG&E in violation of adequately identifying High Consequence Areas, an important determination that triggers integrity management processes. For decades, PG&E left exposed pipelines with coating damage unaddressed in high wildfire areas. The list goes on.
Instead, PG&E pursues the removal of many heritage oak trees while fighting the City's Tree Protection Ordinance. The City hired a pipeline expert who wrote in 2023: "I see no technical pipeline need to remove healthy trees on or near PG&E's gas pipelines with the City". That conclusion should be no surprise to PG&E who admitted trees have never caused a transmission pipeline accident.
Since 2017, residents have demanded PG&E should stop this tree cutting. Let's all now work together on better gas safety, including reducing third-party dig-ins. Until then, local gas safety is an empty promise unremedied by any amount of tree removal.

Michael Dawson
Co-Founder, Save Lafayette Trees
Lafayette

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