NSTAR Halts Tree Cutting in Framingham, Sudbury and Wayland
An NSTAR spokesman said there is no timetable yet to resume the tree clearing, until talks with all three towns are complete.
NStar has put a temporary stop to tree cutting and clearing in Framingham, as well as work in the neighboring communities of Wayland and Sudbury.
"For those that have visited Reardon it no longer looks the same. The large Cedar tree near the basketball court is gone, along with all the trees that were on the right side of the park," wrote Josh Mulready to Framingham Patch.
Children started a petition and residents protested.
“This is something that goes throughout our service territory all the time. We have a five-year cycle right now that we began in 2010 and this particular right of way in MetroWest has come up for the work that needs to be done,” Mike Durand told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Tuesday.
“In the past we had tried to what is called ‘top’ the trees, which literally is to cut the tops off. Well, utilities across the country are moving away from that method because it really is not healthy for the tree and eventually can create more problems than you try to solve," Durand told WBZ News Radio.
The NSTAR spokesman said there is no timetable yet to resume the tree clearing, until talks with all three towns are complete.
Jim Rizoli
3:48 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Cutting down the trees is a non issue....How about being slow baked.
My latest video about power lines and the problems surrounding them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkx0KVscFAQ
Come to your own conclusions. I would like to know from those in the neighborhood the instances of cancer. Anyone care enough to look into it.
I'm really surprised this park was put in so close to them.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Josh Mulready
10:18 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Jim,
I want to preface this by stating that I am not an expert on EMF and cancer rates, but have done some reading in the past and am currently reading up on it as well. I spent some time reading through abstracts on Pud Med and reviewed the guidelines on the World Health Organization's web site. Here is the first abstract I pulled up that is dated April 2012 (please visit Pub Med for the entire abstract):
Sci Total Environ. 2012 Jun 1;426:454-8. Epub 2012 Apr 24.
Concern that "EMF" magnetic fields from power lines cause cancer.
Repacholi M.
...Taking all evidence into account WHO reported that it could not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level magnetic fields. There remains continuing concern by some people that exposure to power frequency magnetic fields may cause adverse health effects, particularly childhood leukemia. Public health authorities need to fully understand the reasons for that ongoing concern and effective ways to address it. This paper describes what drives the concern, including how people perceive risks, how WHO and other public health authorities assess scientific research to determine whether health risks exist and the conclusions they have reached about power frequency magnetic fields. This paper also addresses the scientific basis of international exposure guidelines for power frequency magnetic fields and what precautionary measures are warranted to address the concern.
Josh Mulready
Jim Rizoli
11:58 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Josh....any magnetic field that can light up a fluorescent light bulb without being connected to wires sure would seem to be a problem to me.
I'm sure the electric companies have done their best to keep this topic out of the news?
I would be very wary of anyone who says it's not a problem.
The fella in the video I linked to just so happen to have a lot of his dogs die???
I guess that was just a coincidence. The fact is you will find "Experts" on both side of the issue. I would like to see the cancer rates and other sicknesses that would be more prevalent in a neighborhood that has power lines.
The reason why we don't know is because we don't have anyone compiling the statistics. I guess there are more important things to worry about....like chopping down trees.
Jim@ccfiile.com
Josh Mulready
6:27 am on Wednesday, June 6, 2012
I've been in the neighborhood for 14 years and to the best of my knowledge there have been no reports of childhood leukemia, which is the one of the biggest concerns with EMF. Again, people aren't knocking on my door reporting their illnesses, but I haven't heard of any reports from our area. I've been interested in the research for quite some time as I have two boys and we visit the park on a daily basis. I encourage you to continue researching the topic as I'm interested in any statistics you can find from WHO or any other health organizations regarding conclusive evidence that says the lines are a danger. I'll continue researching as well and will be report back in the coming weeks. Regarding our issues with NSTAR, we understand why the trees have to come down. We are not naive tree hugger nimbys as some people would like to call us. The lack of proper communication before and during the tree clearing has been either lacking or very inconsistent. If proper communication, with the town and neighbors, had occurred prior to the clearing, this would be a non-issue. The "cooling off" period has been put in place to allow for proper communication between NSTAR and those affected by the cutting. We are now at a point where the lines of communication are more clear and the neighbors can talk about what trees are coming down and the remediation they can expect. Maybe I'm naive, but I wasn't aware that we couldn't take a stand to keep our houses and parks in proper condition.