Dr Terry, I don't know about Illinois, but in Missouri, utility companies, and their agents (like land surveyors, tree trimmers, employees, etc)) are immune from trespassing if acting in good faith...you can not legally remove them from any land when working. In Missouri, after the wind and ice storms took out 90% of Ameron's 8 million plus customers in Illinois and Missouri, Missouri power commission created a regulation REQUIRING Ameron to either eliminate or trim ALL trees in ALL easments.
I had property with power line easements in Arkansas and Missouri...on the transmission line easement, the utility could remove all vegetation except grassy ground cover for the specified easement width under the lines....on the supply line (going to homes/businesses) any trees or limbs even partially within an easement would be removed at will, and any obstacles (like fencing) in the easement "could" be removed, at will. There is no requirement for a utility to install gates or to take care at all not to kill a tree when they trim. Maybe Illinois is different, yet a utility easement will be a very expensive legal battle!
Herbicides that kill trees are almost always used under high voltage transmission power lines so any vehicle can drive the easement
Last edited by Rainman; 07/15/16 09:16 AM.
