Seattle City Light Power Line-Clearance Work in Lake Forest Park

Seattle
City Light is committed to ensuring safe and reliable power delivery to
the residents of Lake Forest Park. Vegetation has been the largest
single cause of electrical outages on their system and they have begun
performing additional regularly scheduled link clearance work through
their system network. They are planning on working soon within the City
of Lake Forest Park to begin this maintenance effort.

To prevent
power outages, Seattle City Light is required to maintain a proper
clearance between vegetation and /power lines, wherever possible. This
clearance distance is consistent with Washington Administrative Code
296.24.960 and arboricultural industry Best Management Practices.

Maintaining
these clearances may require significant structural pruning that alters
the tree's natural growth form and shape. City Light makes every
attempt to respect the trees' form and property owners' aesthetic values
while ensuring the required clearance distances are met. To the right
are some examples of what could occur from proper line clearance
pruning.

Seattle City Light only contracts with qualified line
clearance tree trimmers who adhere to ANSI A300 arboricultural pruning
standards. For work within the City of Lake Forest Park, they have hired
Davey Tree Service. These standards include:

• Using directional pruning techniques
• Emphasizing proper cuts to minimize damage to the trees
• Not “rounding over” or “balancing” trees for symmetry