Cute, adorable trees: Pipeline huggers or terrorists? You make the call

After meeting with community members, Columbia Gas has decided not to cut down hundreds of trees in North Reston -- just yet.

About 20 neighbors and representatives of Reston’s civic organizations attended the meeting. Columbia representatives agreed at the meeting to put a hold on cutting the trees in question until the legality of such action is resolved. "We have places we can start to work," said John Jackson, Columbia’s pipeline maintenance team leader. An additional 50 trees, not on Basik’s property, are planned to be cleared in the neighborhood, although Jackson did not say the crews would start clearing in the neighborhood.

"It’s a challenge," said Frank Lynch, Reston Association’s North Point director. Finding a balance between keeping the public safe and preserving trees, a valued asset in Reston, is difficult. Lynch said he hoped some agreement could be reached between the homeowners and Columbia Gas.

Redd and Jackson argued that tree root systems are the main culprits of corroding gas pipelines. Seitz argued that the pipelines buried three to four feet deep are not affected by the roots of the specific trees in question, as those roots only go about two feet deep.

"I guarantee you there are roots hugging my pipeline," said Jackson.

Awww.... that sounds sweet! Maybe we should call the trees "pipeline huggers." Or maybe just "terrorists":

Thompson-Deahl commented that gas companies used to be more lenient to letting trees stand near the pipelines before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Wow. We've been wasting all this time making people take their shoes off at airports, when the real culprits are hidden among us, silently growing in our back yards. Good luck sleeping tonight.