Ed and JoAnn Poll had almost forgotten that two crude-oil pipelines run beneath their front yard.
But a knock at their door last week reminded them and brought this shocking news:"The guy said, `We're gonna have to cut down nine of your trees," recalled JoAnn Poll, referring to an Amoco Pipeline Co. worker sent to bear the unpleasant tidings.
"We knew the lines were here, but it's been 40 years since they've had any contact with us," Ed said. "All of a sudden they were here knocking on our door."
Trees on the Polls' property have grown for 30 years atop Amoco's pipes, which carry crude to refineries in North Salt Lake. Now that the oil company "has money for it," crews are clearing a 28-foot-wide path to keep the line accessible for inspection and repair work, said Michael Hayden, senior right-of-way agent for Amoco.
The Polls' two apple and two apricot trees, a pair of 30-foot-tall fir trees - grown from seeds by Ed - and three other large conifers must go.
"My neighbors said I'll probably cry when they cut (the trees)," JoAnn said, recalling times her grandchildren played beneath the branches. "I probably will."
About 50 others in South Weber also heard and answered Amoco knocks on their doors last week.
"It was unbelievable. I heard what (the Amoco representative said) and just about lost it," said resident Lori Drake, whose family will lose several fruit trees. "It's been a dream to have fruit from our own trees since we moved here."
Amoco will allow the Drakes to harvest their trees this year before moving or cutting them down, she said.
Others in Drake's subdivision, Deer Run Estates, will also have some of their landscaping removed. All knew about the easements on their property but thought they could cultivate land atop the pipes.
"I knew they could clear, but I thought they would stay away from subdivisions," said resident Jim Guernsy.
Amoco could clear more than 28 feet of its easement, up to 58 feet, according to Hayden.
"They have given us some concessions, like only taking 28 feet and letting us move our trees instead of them just cutting them down," Guernsy said.
Amoco bought the lines from Utah Oil Refining Company in 1986 and started clearing the right of way then but stopped at the Drakes' property when it ran out of money, Hayden said.
Now, as part of a companywide clearing plan, Amoco plans to return to its Davis County right of way every spring until it clears a path to North Salt Lake.
According to the original right-of-way contract dated Sept. 8, 1939, Amoco has every right to clear its land.
South Weber residents, however, question whether the company must pay them for trees, plants or shrubs it removes from the right of way.
They say the following sentence in the 1939 agreement entitles them to recover the costs of their plantings: "Grantee (at the time Utah Oil) agrees to pay any damages caused by grantee's operations to said land and to the improvements, crops, pasturage, fences and livestock of (property owner)."
Amoco says it doesn't have to pay since most, if not all, South Weber residents affected don't raise crops for money.