Public Shade Tree Trust Gets Worldwide Attention

The news outlets have picked up the story of the Civil Action Center’s new Public Shade Tree Trust. The Trust is both a major innovation in the handling of potential claims and the resolution of cases like the destruction of our urban forests from gas asphyxiation.  See the March 24th entry below to get more information on the over 200 news organizations across the country and the world which have run with this story.

While the Gas Industry is quoted as saying this is a “minor problem” and “they won’t find much”, we have internal company documents that show that the existing gas leaks number in the tens of thousands in Massachusetts alone and many of these share the same space along the public ways as the trees. This data indicates that the number of leaks nationwide are in the hundreds of thousands – hundreds of thousands of leaks that every day are poisoning the soils and seeping into the atmosphere destroying our urban forests and contributing to Global Warming not to mention posing a long term potential risk to public health and safety.

The Public Shade Tree Trust offers a comprehensive program under a Court approved and supervised Trust to address this large scale problem. The Towns and Cities who join as Beneficiaries receive, at no cost to them :

- A full audit of their community, by an experienced team of gas leak specialists who will determine the nature and extent of the gas leaks affecting the communities’ public shade trees;

- A complete audit by expert landscape appraisers and arborists who are leaders in their field who will determine the full extent of the monetary loss and replacement cost associated with the damage done to the community’s shade trees;

- A legal and professional team who will ensure that the leaks identified are repaired, by those responsible, in an appropriate, timely, and effective manner and that fair and equitable compensation is paid for past damage;

- Up to date training of the community’s personnel who are responsible for protecting the urban forest concerning the best methods to detect and remedy gas leaks before they do damage.

The costs, fees, and expenses for these services are paid only as a percentage (40%) from any successful recovery obtained with the balance being paid to the community.

This is a significant and timely story about an important and unique approach to a widespread environmental problem that cities and towns, and the public, need to know more about. We will be sharing that information here on my Blawg™, and also at The Civil Action Center. Make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed so you can stay up to date on this as we move forward.

If you want more information or how your community can benefit from this exciting program contact me at Civil Action Center.