PG&E Cut Down a Leaning Tree in an Elderly Vallejo Woman’s Backyard in June, Then Left Her a Pile of Heavy Logs She Can’t Move

In June, Pacific Gas and Electric crews came to a Vallejo backyard to take down an overgrown tree that was leaning toward power lines. The tree came down. The wood stayed.

Four months later, the homeowner, an elderly woman identified only as Catherine, is still looking at a large pile of heavy logs she says she cannot move by herself. She told NBC Bay Area on Oct. 19 that she will pursue legal action if the problem is not fixed that week.

A Promise She Says Was Never Kept

Catherine says a PG&E inspector told her, in person, that someone would come back to haul the logs away or cut them into manageable pieces. No one did, she says.

She has nothing in writing. The promise was verbal, which leaves her word against the utility’s records.

The station pointed to PG&E’s own online policy, which says branches under 4 inches thick are generally chipped or removed, while larger wood is left for the homeowner. By that policy, the logs in her yard are hers to deal with, unless the inspector’s promise counts.

PG&E told the station it was “taking this seriously” and reviewing its records to understand what work was done at her address. The company said it expected to have those details the next day.

The story spread beyond the Bay Area. The Cool Down picked it up on Oct. 23 and reported no change in her situation.

Why the Big Logs Get Left Behind

The pile in Catherine’s yard follows a long-standing PG&E practice. Utility crews generally chip smaller branches and leave larger wood on the property.

A PG&E wood management notice shared by Santa Cruz County in December 2021 spelled out the reasoning. Crews chipped wood under four inches in diameter and spread the chips on site where possible. Larger wood stayed, because the wood counts as the landowner’s property. Owners could keep it or sign a permission form asking PG&E to remove it.

That notice also pointed owners with damage complaints to PG&E’s claims process. It is the route a homeowner in Catherine’s position would typically use before going to court.

The arrangement works for a rural landowner with a tractor. It is a much harder fit for an older homeowner with a small backyard and no way to lift a section of trunk.

Not the First Time Logs Have Piled Up

Leftover wood has caused fights with PG&E before. In June 2022, ABC7 reported that Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon said hundreds of properties across Napa and Sonoma counties were left with logs and debris from trees cut after the 2020 and 2021 fires. PG&E said then that it disposes of the wood if it is safely accessible and the owner approves.

In March 2023, an NBC Bay Area investigation found that more than a dozen Northern California counties had warned about felled trees and debris left on private land. Cal Fire said the wood caused some owners to fail fire-safety inspections. PG&E said at the time it had removed 200,000 cut trees and still had a backlog of about 115,000.

Those cases involved wildfire zones and thousands of trees. Catherine’s involves one tree in one backyard in Vallejo, but the problem is the same: the utility decides the tree has to go, and the homeowner is left with what is left of it.

What Happens Next

Catherine has said she will take legal action if the logs are not dealt with. PG&E’s review of its records at her address had not been made public as of Oct. 28.

Her case turns on a single question: whether a verbal promise from an inspector outweighs the written policy that leaves big wood behind. Until PG&E answers it, the tree that once leaned toward her power lines is gone, and the heaviest pieces of it are still sitting in her yard.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Shixart1985 – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons