MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee woman has spent months staring at a massive, 20-foot pile of cut-down trees and branches left in her yard — and she couldn't get anyone to remove it.
Linda Muckerheide said a contractor for We Energies came to her property, cut down the trees and branches, but never removed the debris. The 80-year-old said the pile appeared last fall after a visit that came without warning or any information.
"I just don't have it in me, and I don't have anybody to help me, really," Muckerheide said.
Muckerheide said she contacted both We Energies and the contractor, but neither took responsibility for the cleanup.
"I contacted We Energies. They said they don't clean it up. I contacted the contractor. He said they don't clean it up and the city will do it if I drag it to the street," Muckerheide said.
Watch: 80-year-old Milwaukee woman seeks help after debris left in yard for months
At 80-years-old, moving the pile herself would be extremely difficult. With spring approaching, Muckerheide said she was worried about the impact the debris could have on her lawn.
She turned to TMJ4 when no one would help.
"Not knowing what to do, not knowing how to get rid of it. I just need some help," Muckerheide said.
TMJ4 reached out to We Energies to find out what the work was and why the pile was left behind.
We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said the debris was the result of emergency power restoration work.
"In a power outage situation, our crews focus on restoring power. If that means trimming trees or branches, they'll usually leave those on site. In this situation, that's what happened," Conway said.
That means crews were working to restore power for hundreds of homes first — leaving branches on site to keep moving quickly, a common practice during storm restoration.
During that type of work, We Energies is not able to assist in removing debris from yards. Conway said that is different from planned tree-trimming work, when limbs are often chipped and taken away.
"We also want to set expectations that we have these procedures and policies in place, because it's not always realistic that we're going to restore power and then stop what we're doing and remove branches, right? And we know most customers, that's what they most care about, right? When you're out of power, you really want to make sure that power gets restored, and so that's what our front-line first responder crews are always going to focus on," said Conway.
Conway said We Energies plans to work with Muckerheide on the situation.
"If we should have done a better job with her, that's something we'll look at. We are going to work with her in this situation and try to make it right," Conway said.
For more information on We Energies' tree-trimming practices, visit we-energies.com/safety/tree.
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