• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Classifieds
    • Jobs
  • Obituaries




Diseased ash trees threaten Oak Ridge electric system

Posted at 2:44 pm May 15, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

OakRidgeAshTree

Oak Ridge ash tree (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Ash trees in Oak Ridge are dead or dying due to a pest known as the Emerald Ash Borer, a press release said. Once compromised by the beetle, the trees pose a significant hazard to people, property, and the power lines in the community.

During the next few weeks, in order to prevent incidents due to fallen trees and branches, the Oak Ridge Electric Department will be identifying and, in some cases, removing ash trees found in the public rights of way adjacent to power lines, the press release said.

“One of our responsibilities is to maintain proper clearance between the City’s electric power lines and the area’s abundant urban forest,” Oak Ridge Electric Department Director Jack Suggs said. “We remove trees on public property when they are identified as a high hazard to our system. Unfortunately, the ash trees in Oak Ridge are presenting such a hazard. During an informal survey, it appeared that most, if not all, of the ash trees were experiencing some kind of distress and are in the process of dying.”

Many ash trees in Oak Ridge are already dead or damaged beyond the point where they can be saved. The trees are being killed by an imported pest called the Emerald Ash Borer, or EAB. The beetle was accidentally introduced to the U.S. about 15 years ago. Since then, they have destroyed millions of trees on a scale not seen since the chestnut blight. In one study, the time period between discovery of the first infected ash trees and nearly 100 percent death of those trees was just six years. Infected trees were first found in Anderson County in 2012.

The Oak Ridge Electric Department is beginning a concerted effort to identify and deal with ash trees on public rights of way that could affect overhead power lines, the press release said. If large ash trees affected by EAB are found on private property, Electric Department crews will contact the owners to discuss safety concerns and possible options. In the meantime, the Electric Department strongly encourages property owners to search their properties for ash trees.

If you find an ash tree in your yard, the Electric Department recommends consulting a tree professional to find out if your tree can be saved or if it has to be removed. After speaking with several experts in the field of forestry, Suggs said they all agreed on one thing: “Left untreated, every ash tree in Oak Ridge will die and die quickly.”

Suggs also strongly advised customers to request qualifications and insurance certificates of any professionals they hire.

To learn more about the EAB, visit www.emeraldashborer.info. The website is maintained by several universities and contains important up-to-date information regarding the EAB pest, the press release aid.

More information will be added as it becomes available.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2017 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: ash trees, EAB, emerald ash borer, Jack Suggs, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Electric Department, power lines

Advertisements

Advertisements







Join the club!

If you haven't already, please consider subscribing to Oak Ridge Today. You don't have to subscribe to read our stories, but your subscription will help us cover local news for you day and night, as best we can. You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month. You can read more about your options here.

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.


Subscription options




If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today

P.O. Box 6064

Oak Ridge, TN 37831

You can also contribute without a monthly subscription, through a one-time contribution below.

Amount




Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Government News

Anderson County Democrats have candidate forum Thursday

Anderson County Democrats have candidate forum Thursday

  The Anderson County Democratic Party has a candidate forum in Oak Ridge on Thursday. The forum is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Oak Valley Baptist Church. Candidates expected to attend include Ebony … [Read More...]

UT MBA team to present Rails to Trails study findings

UT MBA team to present Rails to Trails study findings

  A team of graduate students from the University of Tennessee’s Master of Business Administration program will present recommendations next week to the City of Oak Ridge from a recent project that focused on how … [Read More...]

Retired pilot, former Democratic Party chair running for Tennessee House

Retired pilot, former Democratic Party chair running for Tennessee House

  Richard Dawson, a retired pilot who flew helicopters in Vietnam and is a former Democratic Party chair, is running for Tennessee House of Representatives in Anderson County. Dawson is running in Tennessee's … [Read More...]

Ebony Capshaw running for Anderson County trustee

Ebony Capshaw running for Anderson County trustee

  Ebony Capshaw has announced that she is seeking election to the office of Anderson County trustee. Capshaw said her local background and sense of community, combined with her organizational experience and … [Read More...]

Lynch names Bradshaw as campaign treasurer

Lynch names Bradshaw as campaign treasurer

Former Oak Ridge Mayor and local bank official David Bradshaw has been named treasurer of the Rex Lynch for Circuit Court Clerk Campaign. Bradshaw served as mayor of Oak Ridge while Rex Lynch was mayor of Anderson … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Run on Saturday will support autism organization
  • Tennis: District match results
  • Big Ed’s Memorial Golf Tournament to benefit Community Mediation Services
  • Anderson County Democrats have candidate forum Thursday
  • UT MBA team to present Rails to Trails study findings
  • Retired pilot, former Democratic Party chair running for Tennessee House
  • UT Arboretum Society has plant sale this weekend
  • Ebony Capshaw running for Anderson County trustee
  • Lynch names Bradshaw as campaign treasurer
  • Cole names Stephen McNally as treasurer

Recent Comments

  • johnhuotari on Man charged with homicide in crash that killed 3-year-old boy
  • johnhuotari on Council to discuss Rails to Trails, school resource officer program
  • johnhuotari on Officer injured, children taken to hospital after fugitive flees from police
  • johnhuotari on Demolition starts at Applewood Apartments
  • johnhuotari on Mental health evaluation ordered for man charged with terrorism
  • Gary Love on Two Oak Ridge candidates qualify to run for Roane County Commission
  • Kathy Holland on Council to discuss Rails to Trails, school resource officer program
  • Levi D. Smith on Veteran challenging Fleischmann in Republican primary
  • Philip W Nipper on Mental health evaluation ordered for man charged with terrorism
  • Angi Agle on Officer injured, children taken to hospital after fugitive flees from police

Search Oak Ridge Today

Tweets from https://twitter.com/johnhuotari/lists/oak-ridge-news-on-twitter

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2018 Oak Ridge Today