Damaged property cleaned up; fresh landscaping replaces poisoned trees

UPDATE: EGLE disputes phrase

Officials with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy are disputing whether or not they made the statement “environmental terrorism” in an article in the October 1 issue of the Tri-City Times. In an email to the paper, Dale R. George Director of Communications for EGLE wrote in part: “Overall, it’s a strong and informative piece-thank you for covering the story. I did want to flag a small issue near the end of the article, where Jeff Skylar is quoted as saying the situation was described by EGLE officials as “environmental terrorism.” The EGLE staff member who spoke with Mr. Skylar has confirmed that he did not use that phrase.” George went on to say in a vociemail on Thursday morning, “that is not a phrase that we would use, I have talked to the staff that had talked to Jeff Skylar who attributed that to us and they assured me they did not use that. It is not a phrase that we would use that environments. Terrorism can only be determined by the FBI or the Department of Justice.”

GOODLAND TWP. — The aftermath of what is apparently the poisoning of numerous mature trees is in the midst of being cleaned up by at least three property owners in Goodland Twp.

A fourth person, Township Supervisor Michael Eckardt, is trying desperately to save six aged black walnut trees from the similar fate of dying and being cut down.

In previous interviews with the Tri-City Times, resident Mark Farley said he had a number of trees killed off as well as damage to a nearby crop field.

Farley resides near the intersection of Shaw and Brown City Roads. Another closeby neighbor, Sharon and Jeff Sklar on Shaw Rd., are in a similar boat, having had to have large, beautiful trees cut down in their front yard.

The third nearby resident, the Townley family, is just south of the Farleys’ and Sklars’ on Brown City Rd. and suffered similar damage to their 100-year old trees.

Todd Townley shared with the Tri-City Times last week, “We did not notice anything having been applied to our trees last fall. Comparing calendars, if we were attacked the same night as the others, it turns out we left early the next day on a trip, so weren’t around to take a close look at anything. This first came to our notice in March as the rest of the lawn greened up, except for these patches in the yard and around the affected trees.”

Townley added, “As spring progressed, the grass browned, then completely died and disappeared, with nothing growing in it’s place. About mid-May I noticed all the new growth on one of the trees was drying up and falling off. It was at that point we realized we’d been vandalized.”

Townley said in talking to neighbors, they came to realize Sklar’s also had some apparently poisoned trees. Through continued discussions with neighbors, the four households came together and realized they’d all been attacked in a similar manner. That was when they started with police reports, contacting the State, etc.

“We have our suspicions as to motivations, as has been already alluded to in some previous articles (of the Tri-City Times). As there is no proof at this point, I won’t speculate further. But it is a shame when neighbors, who may not always see eye-to-eye, decide to take action to intentionally hurt others and vandalize and destroy other’s property. Of the five trees we lost, one was a 115-year-old silver maple, planted in 1910 after a renovation / addition of our home.”

Townley said the family received the information first-hand from two siblings born in their home in 1905 and 1906 who remembered when their father planted it.

“Three of the others I planted around 2003 – 2004 after a major ice storm we had wiped out several other trees on our property. 20+ years of nurturing, pruning, shaping, and the trees were getting to be nice sizes. All are now gone.”

Not able to change the past, Townley reflected, “what’s done is done. The trees were doomed and had to come down. As you know, EGLE verified the presence of a strong herbicide, applied at a rate far exceeding any recommendations and contaminating the ground. It was significant enough that EGLE agreed to pay for removing and replacing the contaminated soils.”

Townley stated, “while the full cost of that didn’t come out of my pocket, you and I and all the taxpayers paid for that, and I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. We, as individual homeowners, had to pay for the tree removal / stump grinding. Removing the trees prior to the soil cleanup allowed more of the contamination to be removed. I do want to thank EGLE and their team from Technical Environmental Services, Inc. for the work they did in helping us get through this and start restoring our homes.”

The surgery is complete, now the healing begins. Lawns can be leveled and grass will grow.

“In my lifetime I won’t ever see trees in my yard like those that were destroyed. I can start new ones for the following generations. In the meantime, we increase security measures. We are contributing to a reward fund in the hopes that someone who knows something will come forward. We hope that the perpetrators will be caught and convicted. And if they are, EGLE has a cleanup bill to present to them in order for all of us taxpayers to recover our costs, Townley concluded in his statement.

In all, around 20 trees of various species and age were all apparently poisoned with a potent herbicide that allegedly was applied in large amounts around the base of the trees, killing them off in a short amount of time.

State officials have confirmed the trees were killed off by the herbicide Teributhron that also created a situation of contaminated soil.

Holes left from the toxic poison have been replaced with topsoil in an effort to restore the damaged areas.

“We used to have a lot of nice shade from these trees,” Farley said as he looked where his 60-foot tall trees once stood. “It’s all hear-say or whatever. We can’t prove anything, yet. But you tell me. It seems pretty strange that this happened shortly after the elections last November. Plus the fact that those of us who lost trees are also anti-solar projects. It sure makes you stop and wonder. At least for me it does.”

Jeff Sklar told the Goodland Twp. board he was “pissed off” over the damage and vows to keep working to find the culprit or culprits who may be responsible for what EGLE officials have said is “environmental terrorism.”