Seattle Army Corps of Engineers contract

[Oxman]

Tree removal video of contractor removing trees at the Army Corps of Engineers Seattle Ballard Locks.

The locks is a 22' lift for ships from sea level in Puget Sound up to Lake Washington, which is a 20 mile long X 2 mile wide lake that runs right thru the middle of Seattle.

The Hiram Chittenden Locks were built during World War I, and the twin rows of 35 Lombardy Poplar trees lining both sides of the Canal are now getting nice & mature. These trees, around 4' DBH & 125' tall, are in pretty nice shape, but the feds are cutting them down.

I decided not to stop the incredible inertia of the Army Corps steamroller of a tree condemnation process. This would have been an interesting battle.

The workers who showed up yesterday from California had an interesting way of taking a wrap, as seen in the video.

The photo attachment shows a Cormorant stretching his wings to dry after a long hard day fishing. This afternoon he'll have to find another roost, cause these trees are coming down. Enjoy!

 

[Oxman]

Part 2 of the video.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Nice wrap job on the small trees! Once the pesky bark is stripped away the friction is more consistent though...right???

Did you talk with the COE rep on site about the abuse of the small trees?

 

[Tr33Climb3r]

[ QUOTE ]
Nice wrap job on the small trees! Once the pesky bark is stripped away the friction is more consistent though...right???



[/ QUOTE ]

Right!

 

[Oxman]

Check out the authors Youtube comments in the "More Info" description of the Wrap on Trailer Hitch video.

"Yesterday I observed the unsafe tree removal operation by the Army Corps of Engineers at the Ballard Locks in Seattle. I understand there was an agreement between Parks & the Locks to allow closure of part of the Burke Gilman Trail. The work needs to stop until that closure is expanded to cover a larger safety zone.

I met with Army Corps of Engineers staff, and the contractor, Surirat Development, Inc, who declined to say if any of the dozen employees are ISA Certified Arborists.

The Seattle Department of Licensing, had no available record of this companys business license. An SDOT inspector came out to see if the trucks blocking one lane of N Canal St. needed a street use permit. Washington Dept. of Labor & Industry sent out 2 Compliance Safety and Health Officers, whose investigation is ongoing.

When I arrived, the tree cutting was going on by the dinosaur topiary along the Burke Gilman Trail at N 34th St & Phinney Av N,. Orange traffic cones and yellow tape barricade ribbon marked part of the 500' long work area. The contractors sole supervisor was unable to observe all his workers.

Some sections of the work area trail were without barricades, open to pedestrians. A chipper was being fed branches which landed in an open pile on the ground in this unsecured area. 40' long branches were being cut within 20' of the pedestrians. Logs weighing 300 pounds were being cut and swung by ropes in the air, landing at a point 70' away from the tree trunk, within 50' of the trail.

Several industrial worker safety violations were observed. Personal Protective Equipment that must be worn by employees, included no hardhats, no glasses, no hearing protection, and no chaps on some of the workers present. Violation of ANSI Z133.1 safety standards while working aloft in a tree included: using chainsaws one handed, not having a backup body positioning tether while cutting; chainsaws weighing over 15 pounds being unsecured by a lanyard; use of climbing rope not approved for tree climbing; and failure to call out warnings before dropping limbs or receiving confirmation that the drop zone is secure before cutting, as well as hardhat, glasses, and hearing protection not being worn by the climbers.

2 Honey locust trees in the parking lot of the health club on 34th St. were damaged when a ground worker wrapped ropes under tension around the trunks as a friction device to lower heavy limbs. A birch tree near the water was also used as a rope brake, scarring the bark, while 2 Army Corps officers were present. Later they said Army Corps arborists could inspect the damaged trees.

By cutting corners on safety, this contractor has underbid legitimate tree services. The employees have been provided with inadequate equipment, are untrained, unprotected, uncertified, and not being paid prevailing wage. The contractor will pocket the money that should have been paid to quality employees. This is exploitation of the worker by the contractor in a rigged federal bidding process, paid for by the Stimulus Package."

Arboreally yours, Michael Oxman (206) 949-8733 www.SaveSeattlesTrees.com

 

[wheelloader123]

This is apparently a "HUGE" problem now with goverment contracts. I am a veteran/seasoned "tree service" contractor with 20 years in the field. I am ISA Certified (#SO-2008A) and have been for many years. I don't understand how one or two legal US residents with a little "tree experience" can hire a van full of (non english speaking) illegal Mexicans and go after these government contracts, I truly don't! I am though seeing it with more and more frequency. It is obvious they haven't a clue what they're doing, but there they are at a government installation doing the work.

 

[wheelloader123]

Michael,
You have "nailed it" in your last paragraph! That is exactly what it is, "a rigged federal bidding process" and it is Everywhere. If I can assist you in your fight in any way, please let me know.
Daniel Matthews
256-351-1299
arborsmith@live.com

 

[Tom Dunlap]

When any governmental issue needs to get a bit of a shove it is always prudent to be in contact with your federal senator and rep. Senators have phone call power that would make your head spin!

 

[oldoakman]

I hold a low opinion of engineers in general, but "Army Corps of Engineers" is an oxymoron of the highest order. This is only one of many cases. Years back, the ISA pushed for CA's to be involved in any federal project requiring tree work. We can see what has happened. I live within spitting distance of a very large army post and the civilian contractors are very similiar to the ones shown here. Perhaps we need to make that call to the senator!

 

[evo]

I saw a photo of this job in the paper the other day. Some climber without a rope just a flipline dropping chunks... I had no idea it was related untill now.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

I shot pics the next morning.....that same climber was befuddled as he tried to chuck down the same tree....So, he gave up, leaving his last cut chunk tied off. Then, he made use of his overhead line in that other tree, the one used as a gin pole, to tie his TLH in the tail of the line, and flip line up the tree, while using the lifeline. Based on the time stamps on my photos, it took him over 20 minutes to get back up the tree, about 60 feet. Poor fella... Then, he was chunking down wood with what looked like an 021 or something puny.

I'll get some photos up soon. I've only edited the ones I shot the day Mike was there...by the time I arrived, L&I had stopped work for that day.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Busted.....

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Great scenery, though!!

 

[Roger_Barnett]

I like!!

 

[tcsafety]

I know most of the State and Fed contracts coming out for road improvements in SoCal require and ISA Cert Arb on site.

They should require the companies getting the contracts, and the workers, to be of that State. Not that I mind shipping more of our bad workers outa here...no offence to WA.

IMO, they also ought to require a CTSP approve of the PPE, procedures, and policies of the company before they start work. AND have the authority to shut down any unsafe practices.

 

[Oxman]

The photo in the attachment shows RBTREE documenting the investigation by the state compliance safety & health officers.

 

[Oxman]

The photo in the attachment shows a climber with only one tie in.

His climbing line can be seen hanging in the gin pole tree, from the 2nd stub below the crotch the lowering line is in.

 

[Oxman]

Followup shot after that last image shows no eye protection. I love the 20 power zoom lens on this Sony HX1 camera !

 

[Oxman]

Attachment shows unspectulacular photo of chipping into a pile on the ground in an unsecured area, open to the public. The Burke Gilman Trail is a former railroad right-of-way, about 9 miles long across north Seattle, with about 300 pedestrians & bikers per hour at this spot.

This later became a bone of contention as video shows the Surirat foreman threatening to physically remove me from an unbarricaded area. The poorly delineated work zone resulted in the cops receiving 5 trespassing calls, when we were actually just occupying a public area not marked by barricades.

There were 4 climbers simultaneously working in trees over a quarter mile of waterfront trail, so the single foreman was unable to effectively supervise the job. The 2 trees on one end were being worked on by non English speaking crew, who were unable to communicate with the public when limbs crashed through the ribbon, all the way out to the centerline of the street. It didn't help that the foreman is not bilingual.

 

[Oxman]

The chipper was later moved to the opposite side of the pile. Here's a side view of that same area, showing 4 pedestrians.

A video of the NBC news camera person shows 2 people walking right in front of the chute.