An extensive Baltimore Gas and Electric project to clear trees around a gas line that runs from Clarksville to Elkridge has left some Columbia residents feeling stunned and misled.

The recent clearing of trees around communities in the Columbia villages of Harper's Choice and Wilde Lake is a part of a project aimed at ensuring that BG&E has safe and easy access to its pipeline. Work started in March at Linden Church Road, in Clarksville, and is expected to conclude sometime next spring around Route 1, in Elkridge, according to Stephan Brooks, a BG&E forestry technician who is managing the project.

Brooks was at the clearing site June 24 when Michael Fowler, the manager of local affairs for Constellation Energy, BG&E's parent company, gave County Councilwoman Mary Kay Sigaty, a Columbia Democrat, an on-site briefing of the project.

Sigaty said she has known about the project since before the work started, but recent calls from concerned residents prompted her to visit the site. Residents were primarily worried that workers were cutting down more trees than necessary, she said.

"Based on what I saw today, I think they are being very judicious in their work," Sigaty said after her visit. "I certainly want to be able to keep the gas line safe for everybody."

Sigaty noted it's important for BG&E and its workers to be sensitive to residents' concerns.

"They forget for many people who live along these rights of way, the trees they're cutting down have been with them for (decades)," she said. "It's a loss for them."

The 26-inch gas line spans 12.8 miles and is used as a distribution line, bringing gas through the county to smaller lines that serve residences. The gas line is located on a 50-foot wide BG&E easement, which the company purchased in 1957, before Columbia was built.

Mercier's Inc., an Anne Arundel County-based company BG&E hired to complete the project, is clearing trees 10 feet from either side of the gas line, which is marked along the easement with yellow poles.

'Jarring thing to see'

But Del. Liz Bobo, a Columbia Democrat, noted that in several areas the clearings seemed to be more than 20-feet wide, the target width.

"Safety is paramount; I know that," she said. "It just looks to me like more is being done than is necessary."

Bobo said the project has raised both environmental and aesthetic concerns, and some Columbia residents agree.

"It comes as a shock to people when they see all of a sudden big trees gone, the sides of the tree branches skimmed off," Wilde Lake resident Frank Shekore said. "It changes the character of things, the pleasant, shaded walks. It's a jarring thing to see."

Shekore said he understood the need for the project and noted that BG&E officials and the workers have been pleasant.

"They made a strong effort to let the community know, and they made a strong effort to let the people that were going to be most affected know. I think that was well done on their part," he said.

BG&E held a community meeting in February before starting the project, and workers have made at least three attempts to contact homeowners who live along the easement before removing trees near their property.

Harper's Choice resident Sharon Boise, like Shekore, said that while she sees the need for the project, the end result is a shock.

"I just feel the way that they went about it could have been much better handled, and they could have taken the environmental and the aesthetic quality in the area even more into consideration than they did," she said.

Fowler conceded that while the work is necessary to make sure the company has safe access to its pipeline, "people are never happy to see trees taken down. There's no way around creating the disturbance."

Federal regulations require utility companies to have access to their pipelines at all times, in case of a leak or other emergency. The purpose of clearing the trees, Fowler explained, is "to essentially reclaim the right of way for inspections and maintenance."

'A good neighbor'

BG&E conducts biannual ground inspections and monthly helicopter patrols of the easement to ensure there are no leaks or trees encroaching on the pipeline.

"BG&E is very conscious about being a good neighbor and understands how attached people are to trees," Fowler said. He added that now this major project is being completed, the plan is to provide regular maintenance.

Bobo, Shekore and Boise all noted that had the company maintained the right of way since 1957, the tree removal would not be so shocking. To help improve the appearance of the area, workers are planting grass seeds (covered by straw) over the areas where they have removed trees.

"Once (residents) see what's happening behind us, they feel better," Brooks said.

Sigaty noted: "Right now, it looks like a gash on the landscape, but as the grass grows and gets cut, it should mellow out."

At its July 5 meeting, the Wilde Lake village board will have BG&E officials available to answer residents' questions regarding the project. The meeting will be held at Slayton House at 7 p.m.