HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-01-24-UTIL-rpt.pdf Status Report on Double Poles in Lexington
Electric Utility Ad-hoc Committee
by Paul Chernick and Patrick Mehr
January 24, 2005
State Law Requires Double-Pole Removal Within 90 Days
A distribution company or a telephone company engaging in the removal of an existing
pole and the installation of a new pole in place thereof shall complete the transfer of wires, all
repairs, and the removal of the existing pole from the site within 90 days from the date of
installation of the new pole (Mass. General Laws, Chapter 164 Section 34B)
but there is no enforcement mechanism in the law Pole owners are in widespread
violation, in Lexington and throughout Massachusetts. Poles in Lexington are jointly owned by
Verizon and NStar, maintained by Verizon, and used by NStar, Verizon, RCN, Comcast, the Fire
Department and some private fiber-optics users
Lexington has Tried to Work with Pole Owners
Our Committee met 7 times with pole owners and cable companies in 2002, helping utilities
develop and update a database (called "PLM") to schedule wire transfers and pole removal. Our
Committee inventoried every double pole in Lexington. Verizon and NStar were questioned
repeatedly by the Board of Selectmen.
Oct 2002. Board of Selectmen Chair asks utilities for a plan to remove older double poles,
report every two weeks on removals and new double poles, and update the plan
every three months.
Jan 2003 Verizon promises to remove 20 poles per month, and file the requested reports.
Sept 2003 Verizon had provided only 2 biweekly reports (out of roughly a dozen promised)
and no plan updates, despite repeated letters from the Board of Selectmen.
The double-pole situation deteriorated in this period; Lexington had 308 double poles in
June 2002, which increased to 373 in early October 2003
Lexington Has Tried to Find a Statewide Solution
The Legislature asked the Department of Telecommunications & Energy (DTE) to
investigate double-pole enforcement. At a September 2003 DTE public hearing, Lexington
recommended a state-wide fine schedule and rules, with local enforcement. Verizon announced a
"Lexington pilot program" to coordinate utility efforts and remove double poles, without specific
goals or incentives.
The DTE recommended that the Legislature wait to observe the outcome of the Lexington
pilot and statewide progress. The Legislature has not acted on this issue.
The utilities' database listed the following numbers of double poles in Lexington.
Number of Double Poles in
Utility EUAC
At end of Database Surveys
January 2003 347
February 2003 350
March 2003 351
April 2003 352
May 2003 361
June 2003 303
July 2003 304
August 2003 320
September 2003 287 373
October 2003 343
November 2003 306
December 2003 297
January 2004 270
February 2004 228
March 2004 234
April 2004 205
May 2004 184
June 2004 189
July 2004 190
August 2004 187
September 2004 185
October 2004 189
November 2004 183
December 2004 182 —265
January 20 2005 156
In the last six months of 2004, Verizon added 17 new double poles and removed only 15, or
21/2 per month.
As indicated by the September 2003 data, the utilities' database has continued to be
incomplete and inaccurate. The Committee has not conducted a complete survey of double poles
since then, but we conducted a spot check in December We surveyed a portion of the town
(largely in East Lexington) and found 74 double poles in those areas. Of the 74 double poles, 23
are not listed in the utilities' database: there were actually 45% more double poles than the
utilities were reporting in the survey area.
EUAC Double-Pole Report January 24 2005 Page 2 of 3
The utility database listed 182 or 183 double poles throughout December If the inventory
for the town as a whole is as inaccurate as the inventory for the survey area, there would be about
265 double poles in town.
Many of the double poles have been along Lexington's streets for years. Despite the
Committee's urging that the date of creation of each double pole be included in the database, the
utilities have not tracked that information. While January 2005 shows a new spurt of removals, at
least 110 of the 156 remaining double poles have been in place since January 2004 Of the 74
double poles in our sample, 52 have been in place at least since our October 2003 survey, 14
months earlier. We had noted three of them even earlier, two in August 2001 (40 months earlier)
and one in March 2002 (33 months earlier).
We are also concerned that the utilities have been removing poles piecemeal, cutting off
sections as wires are transferred. For example, about 15% of our December survey sample have
only a few feet of the old pole attached to wires not yet transferred to the new pole. This practice
results in increased on-site sawing of the old pole on site, scattering sawdust containing a variety
of toxic wood preservatives, including some mix of pentachlorophenol, creosote and copper
chromated arsenic. If the utilities would simply transfer their equipment and remove the old pole
within the 90-day legal limit, much less cutting would be necessary
Recommendations
We recommend that the Board of Selectmen write to the DTE, with copies to Lexington's
legislators and Senator Cynthia Creem (who filed the legislation requiring DTE to hold the
September 2003 public hearing on this matter) to.
1 Inform the DTE that, 16 months after Verizon promised to demonstrate its voluntary
compliance with MGL Chapter 164, section 34B by running the Lexington pilot, the utilities
are still grossly violating the law
2. Ask the DTE to organize a technical meeting or hearing in Lexington to review the failure of
the voluntary approach, even as a pilot concentrated in one mid-sized town, and give the
utilities a final opportunity to show cause why a statewide penalty scheme is not required.
3 Request that the DTE reopen its investigation of this matter, with the purpose of
recommending establishing a uniform statewide set of penalties for non-compliance by the
utilities with MGL Chapter 164, section 34B
4 Ask DTE to review the utilities' practice of sawing old poles on site, in order to better
protect the public from the hazards of wood preservatives released in the sawdust.
EUAC Double-Pole Report January 24 2005 Page 3 of 3
Lexington Electric Utility Ad-hoc Committee Missing from
double poles surveyed in December 2004 First In Place for at database
At# Street name Pole# Survey least 12/31/04
at 1 Anthony Rd ALBEMARLE AVE 168/8 10/3/03 1.16 years
across 1 ANTHONY RD 355/1 10/3/03 1.16 years
across 3 ANTHONY RD 355/3 10/3/03 1.16 Years
BASKIN RD 369/22 12/3/04 unknown __
BASKIN RD 369/32 12/3/04 unknown _
BEDFORD ST 6/37 12/24/04 unknown __
at Mass Ave BOW ST 13/1 10/3/031.16 Years __
across 92 BOW ST 13/17 10/3/03 1.16 Years
91 BOW ST 13/18 10/3/03 1 16 years
across 96 BOW ST 13/19 10/3/03 1 16 years
across 3 BOW ST 13/2 10/3/03 1 16 years
at Cliffe Ave BOW ST 13/4 10/3/03 1.16 Years
across 30 BOW ST 13/6 10/3/03 1 16 years
39 BOW ST 13/7 10/3/03 1 16 years
39 BOW ST 13/8 10/3/03 1.16 Years
at Fottler Ave BRANDON ST 12/31/04 unknown
42 CLIFFE AV 120/8 8/16/01 3.29 Years
CLIFFE AVE 120/1 12/31/04 unknown
at Melrose Ave CLIFFE AVE 120/11 10/3/03 1.16 years
82 CLIFFE AVE 120/14 10/3/03 1.16 Years
12 CLIFFE AVE 120/2 10/3/03 1.16 Years _
16 CLIFFE AVE 120/4 10/3/03 1 16 years
at Fottler Ave 36 CLIFFE AVE 120/6 10/3/03 1 16 years
40 CLIFFE AVE 120/7 10/3/03 1 16 years
FOREST ST 35/1 12/3/04 unknown
FOREST ST 35/3 12/3/04 unknown
across 49 FOTTLER AVE 124/10 10/3/03 1.16 years
62 FOTTLER AVE 124/11 10/3/03 1.16 years
behind Enterprise Rent A Car FOTTLER AVE 124/2 10/3/03 1.16 years
across 16 FOTTLER AVE 124/4 10/3/03 1.16 Years
FOTTLER AVE 124/9 12/31/04 unknown
across 49 FOTTLER AVE 124/9 10/3/03 1 16 years
HANCOCK ST 42/10 12/7/04 unknown
HANCOCK ST 42/6 12/7/04 unknown
23 LILLIAN RD 332/10 10/3/03 1.16 Years
57 LILLIAN RD 332/2 10/3/03 1 16 years _
9 LILLIAN RD 332/4 10/3/03 1 16 Years
across 14 LILLIAN RD 332/5 8/16/01 3.29 Years
15 LILLIAN RD 332/6 10/3/03 1.16 years
19 LILLIAN RD 332/8 10/3/03 1.16 years
21 LILLIAN RD 332/9 10/3/03 1.16 years
LORING ST 378/3 12/3/04 unknown
LORING ST 378/7 12/3/04 unknown
114 LOWELL ST 58/21 10/3/03 1 16 years
LOWELL ST 58/44 12/31/04 unknown
LOWELL ST 58/56 12/31/04 unknown
LOWELL ST 58/77 12/31/04 unknown
MARRETT RD 193/62 12/31/04 unknown
' across from New Asia restaurant MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/12 10/3/03 1.16 years
220 MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/13 10/3/03 1.16 Years
MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/25 12/31/04 unknown
at Sylvia St MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/4 10/3/03 1.16 years
at Taft Ave MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/5 10/3/03 1.16 years
at Taft Ave MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/6 10/3/03 1.16 Years
at Bow St MASSACHUSETTS AVE 57/7 10/3/03 1.16 years
MUZZEY ST 69/3 12/3/04 unknown
PAUL REVERE RD 110/9 12/6/04 unknown
RAYMOND ST 81/3 12/3/04 unknown
at 22 Cliffe Ave THERESA AVE 127/3 10/3/03 1.16 Years
at Bridge St VALLEYFIELD ST 53/8 3/20/02 2.68 Years
256 WALTHAM ST 195/27 10/2/03 1.16 years
at Worthen Rd WALTHAM ST 195/28 10/2/03 1.16 Years
betwn Worthen&Marrett Rds WALTHAM ST 195/33 10/2/03 1 16 years
betwn Worthen&Marrett Rds WALTHAM ST 195/35 10/2/03 1 16 years _
betwn Worthen&Marrett Rds WALTHAM ST 195/36 10/2/03 1.16 years
292 WALTHAM ST 195/38 10/2/03 1.16 Years
320 WALTHAM ST 195/42 10/2/03 1.16 years
326 WALTHAM ST 195/43 10/2/03 1 16 Years
betwn Worthen&Marrett Rds WALTHAM ST 195/44 10/2/03 1.16 Years _
betwn Worthen&Marrett Rds WALTHAM ST 195/45 10/2/03 1.16 years
354 WALTHAM ST 195/46 10/2/03 1.16 years
360 WALTHAM ST 195/47 10/2/03 1 16 Years
at Grapevine Ave WALTHAM ST 195/48 10/2/03 1.16 Years _
Cary Library parking lot no ID# 12/3/04 unknown
Prepared by the Lexington Electric Utility Ad-hoc Committee Oct 9, 2003 Page 1 of 1
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