trees killed by Chemical, are they safe to work on?

[Leyburn Lad]

After a bit of advice from any one who has been in this situation or knows what to do.

 

Went to price a job requiring the section felling of 1x80' Cedar, 4x40' Limes and a 30' cherry, all the trees are completly dead, not dying but completly dead.

 

The customer had some Travelers turn up and offered to spray off his land to get it ready for landscaping, these trees are all on the land and have subsequently all died off because of what has been sprayed on the ground.

 

Ive sprayed quite a lot of chemicals my self over the years on plantations etc but never seen any thing result in this, as I say they are dead dead. The council have been intouch as all the trees fell unde a TPO, they have agreed to them all been taken out and have taken samples to try and diagnose the culprit chemical but have so far drawen a blank.

 

My concern is this, will the timber be poisonus to work on now and wood chip of the job would this be safe to mik with clean stuff in the yard.

 

I think myself the chemical has been some sort of Paraquat or the like but I could be wrong. I dont want the woodchip or the timber if there is a chance of harm coming to someone.

 

any feed back or ideas greatly accepted

[RobRainford]

The chemical is only harmful to us in concentrate or solution. Once it's been taken up by plants and trees it's in a different form. I wouldn't think it would cause any issues. The only issue I would want to be aware of is rot in the trees causing them to be unsafe.

[Leyburn Lad]

The chemical is only harmful to us in concentrate or solution. Once it's been taken up by plants and trees it's in a different form. I wouldn't think it would cause any issues. The only issue I would want to be aware of is rot in the trees causing them to be unsafe.

 

 

Cheers, if we get the job I'll post some photos, never seen anything like it, we have a mewp sorted for the trees due to concerns over the strenght of the trees.

 

cheers:thumbup1:

[easy-lift guy]

I would think depending on the concentration and amount of material I would not try to recycle any of the material removed for any purpose. Paraquat is a pretty nasty material and Rob is correct about the material taking a different form once taken up by the root system. Better safe than sorry take any and all precautions as needed. Stay safe and report back.

easy-lift guy.

[Charlieh]

if they had a good dose of something like tordon which is used for knotweed control, that would kill them, its a long term persistant herbicide, and is active for 2years, I would as a precaution take the chip to a licensed tip, as if you mix them into a chip pile for compost or mulch and it does still contain some active ingredient you could end up with problems down the line

[sandy2210]

dont think it would have been paraquat as it is now banned and it only affects any green leaf it touches and has no affect on roots most weeds unless very small will recover so dont think it would affect trees

I stand to be corrected if wrong

[antipesto]

Can you burn the brash on site instead of chipping it:thumbup1:

[sloth]

If there is any residual chemical burning it may not be that wise. I think given what you've said, I'd consider whether its possible to fell them and wait for the results of what was used. You would then be better informed and more able to make the best decision. Another option, if the client will miss the visual impact of the trees, is to see how decayed they are and monolith or carve them. I can't imagine any chemical would cause them to rot stupidly quickly?

[combined tree services]

Personall if i was looking to do the job i would be certainly be usind particulate protection masks for all persons on site , secondly i would only considder chipping to be an option if there were no alternatives and would specify that all brash to be chipped was soaked with water to ensure as little dust as possible is created .

 

Have you considdered that you may well need to chip into a sealed ski for specialest disposall ? i can assure you it is not cheap .

 

Hope all goes well with the job if you do it

 

Cheers Dave

[RobRainford]

What's the possibikitybthat the travellers used the easiest to get hold of chemical -glyphosate- and just mixed it way too strong? It can happen and can kill trees in a strong enough dose.

 

Even a strong residual chemical would only be in the soil.

 

Depending on the time since they were killed. I would treat it like any tree that just died. If it doesn't look dangerous I'd climb it. The tree has only been killed 'biologically' and not 'physically'.