REMOVING UTILITY POLES
A JOB FOR AUB ONLY

ATHENS, Tenn. - As Athens Utilities Board (AUB) continues to move power lines onto new poles as part of the Highway 411 project in Englewood, an unexpected, dangerous, and illegal issue has come up: people are cutting down old poles and taking them away.

The problem was realized recently when routine line work by AUB crews revealed “stumps” of poles that had been left after someone used a chainsaw to cut them down.

The poles that were removed illegally did not have power lines on them at the time they were cut, AUB spokesman Wayne Scarbrough said. “As part of the 411 project, AUB is moving power lines and the phone and cable companies are moving their lines from old poles to AUB’s newer, larger ones,” he said. The old poles are the poles that were cut down.

AUB Power Superintendent Nick Fortson pointed out that taking power-pole removal into your own hands is not only illegal but could be extremely dangerous. “The poles that were taken were forty-five footers that weigh in excess of a thousand pounds apiece,” he said. “If one of these fell on a person it could easily kill them. There’s also the prospect of a pole falling across other primary power lines,” he said.

Even the “stumps” left behind are a safety hazard, Scarbrough said, especially for construction crews that are part of the Highway 411 project. “Someone operating a piece of machinery or even driving a car or truck in the construction area could hit one of the stumps and cause an accident,” he said. “This is an issue that may seem harmless enough, but it’s not. The many safety issues are paramount for everyone involved. Also, the poles are AUB property, so taking one is theft.”

AUB workers removed the “stumps” that were discovered earlier and continue removing old poles as a routine part of the project work. Scarbrough said that AUB sometimes could work out arrangements for citizens to gain ownership of old poles that are in their immediate area and that no longer are of use for utilities.