Brookline Residents, Town Want To Know Why Trees Keep Falling

BROOKLINE, MA — It hasn't been a good few years for the trees on Russett Road in South Brookline. The short roadway was lined with old Oak trees earlier this year. Three years ago there were 20 in the small stretch. Over the past three years, four trees have fallen over in heavy winds, prompting officials to remove 14 others in an effort to keep residents safe. And then in October, another one fell and hit a house.

"There's something wrong here," said Town Meeting Member Regina Frawley, of precinct 16, who lives on that street.

That, the town can agree with.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Brookline Tree Warden Tom Brady. "When we got the call that this tree failed during the storm event in October, our hearts went in our throats, we had just taken what we thought was an aggressive but appropriate removal. It's very, very frustrating."

Just what's happening to the trees isn't clear.

Frawley says she's convinced the trees are falling because of a gas leak problem. The old pipes have a history of gas leaks throughout the town. There was a main break nearby recently followed by service break, officials said. And it's not unheard of that the gas would disrupt trees' ability to get oxygen: Brookline filed a lawsuit against National Grid in 2010 seeking damages for what the town said was negligence from the utility company in not repairing leaky gas lines, saying some 300 trees were killed. National Grid maintained there was no evidence to prove the leaky pipes killed the trees.

Earlier this fall the Department of Public Works was set to repave the road, and had checked in with National Grid to ask them to check for leaks that might merit fixing before a repaving.

National Grid said that although there had been a few small service leaks over the past decade, there was nothing on the Brookline side of the roadway that would merit a replacement according to their criteria.

When news came that several trees would have to come down, DPW Commissioner Andrew Pappastergion decided to hold off on paving the roadway until after that was finished.

When Frawley heard, she urged the town to hold off and fix the gas pipes beneath, first.

According to HEET, a project that tracks gas leaks there were 275 leaks in Brookline last year, but none appeared to be on Russett Road.

Brookline's certified arborist and tree warden Tom Brady says trees usually show signs - leaf discoloration or bark issues or mold - if they're sick. These trees aren't doing that, but there's not enough evidence to definitively point the finger at the gas pipe.

"I can't draw a straight clear line, here. Trees are failing and I don't know why," said Brady who has decades of experience working to manage Brookline's tree population.

The town was set to have the road repaved, but then another tree fell during a storm in October. It was the third October in a row that a storm prompted a tree to fall on that street in that area. This prompted the town to ask an independent arborist to come have a look.

The result? The town decided to take down another 13 oaks as a preventative measure, said Brady. Once he got the recommendation and report back he set up a public hearing to let residents know. A second hearing is set for December 9.

The hearing is an opportunity for his department to hear concerns from neighbors regarding those 13 trees, and it's required by law. It's also an opportunity for the warden to share a bit more about why it's necessary to take the trees down.

But when it comes to what's causing the trees to blow over in wind as they are, it's not cut and dry he said.

Brady has seen something like this before. The biggest parallel to this happened about a dozen years ago on Beaconsfield Road, he said. Silver maples started falling over and so they took them out and started a new canopy. It took a while, but trees are back and lush along the road.

Some years back a few trees on Russett were inadvertently damaged when the road way was redone the last time. When they fell it triggered a review which found several others needed to be removed so they didn't fall on a house, a car or wires. They replaced those with a new tree species.

In the most recent Russett Road case, the town has pulled soil samples, and before they replant they're having an independent vendor assess the gas situation.

"It would be foolish [to replant] if there's gas problems. I can't just definitely say that's the issue," said Brady.

A small leak was reported. Pappastergion went back to the gas company and asked them to at least reconsider their criteria, he told Patch.

"After some intense negotiation, they agreed to consider replacing the gas main on that road and services on that stretch," he said, but added "I can't expect, nor should anyone expect, that they will come in and replace a main just because we go pave a road. It doesn't work that way. But we do the best we can."

Brady praises Russett Road residents he said who have been patient throughout the process.

"We are very concerned as well, and that's why we took the immediate responses we have. We'll continue that," he said, noting there's a comprehensive pruning plan for the trees that remain. "If we find additional indicators in the canopy [that signal an issue] we'll find a way to correct them."

PREVIOUSLY:

• Map Reveals Hundreds of Gas Leaks Across Brookline
• Mothers Out Front Tackled Gas Leaks in Brookline
• Tree Falls On House In Brookline

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).