The lawsuit saying Versant Power acted negligently when cutting down 973 Christmas trees under its power lines will continue after Penobscot County Judge Bruce Mallonee declined to dismiss the case Friday morning.
Ervin Tower, of Patten, filed a lawsuit in February alleging Versant employees trespassed on his land in September 2022 and cut down the Christmas trees, worth more than $20,000. The trees were grown under high-voltage power lines in a transmission corridor, Versant attorney Arrian Stockdell said.
There is no dispute the 973 trees were grown in a 100-foot easement under the power lines, attorneys on both sides agreed.
In addition to being allowed to grow Christmas trees, the easement also says that if power company employees damage the land or remove trees, the firm will pay damages.
The trees were “hardly a threat” and weren’t taller than 7 feet, Tower’s attorney, Patrick Hunt, said Friday in court.
In exchange for allowing Tower to grow the trees, Versant has sole discretion to cut the trees down, Stockdell said.
Tower bought the farm in 1981 and signed an easement with Maine Public Service Co. in 1985. When the easement was negotiated Tower should have asked for provisions allowing the trees to reach a certain height or age, Stockdell said.
There is ambiguity in how the easement language works, Mallonee said. There is some level of expectation that the right to cut is done for necessity, rather than for any reason at all, he said.
A Versant manager apologized for what happened and offered compensation for Tower’s loss, according to an email from Steve Sloan, manager of transmission development and vegetation management, dated the day after the tree cutting.
“It should not have happened, and it is very important to us to run our program well, to live up to commitments and have good relationships with our customers,” Sloan wrote in an email, according to court documents. “We are taking steps to make sure this cannot happen again.”
Versant asked the judge to strike that exchange from the case.
“We often agree to pay claims without any litigation simply because it’s the right thing to do,” Stockdell said.
He argued there was an evidentiary rule that made those types of negotiations inadmissible and that it would taint a jury pool.
Mallonee denied the motion to strike the exchange.
In the lawsuit Tower said he’s owed $36,000 in actual damages for the loss of the trees, the cost of removing the stumps, some of which are a foot high, the cost of seedlings to replace the lost trees and the labor to accomplish those tasks.
If a judge finds Versant acted negligently, Tower is entitled to double the actual damage amount and is entitled to triple damages if Versant acted intentionally or knowingly, according to the complaint.
Maine Public Service merged in 2014 with Bangor Hydro to create Emera Maine. Versant’s Canadian parent company acquired Emera Maine in 2020.
No future court dates are scheduled.
