Niland resident to sue county for violating his property

Niland resident Lee Johnson said he’s just a little guy defending his trees against a giant organization that wants to impose their will on him. He said it’s a case of David versus Goliath.

“My property has been violated. They didn’t ask me. They did it when I wasn’t here,” Johnson said.

He claimed Imperial Irrigation District employees entered his property this week and damaged his trees with the excuse that tree branches were encroaching on power lines. He maintains they were not.
“They cut branches off that were two, three inches in diameter. It looks like one of my trees is dying,” Johnson said.

IID officials told us they notified Johnson through a letter about their plans to cut branches near power lines. They were at his residence this week with police present to cut the trees.

“They warned me that they were going to come in to cut the limbs 10 feet from the power lines,” Johnson said.

He complained they cut over 20 feet from power lines on Tuesday when he wasn’t home.

“They must have done it as fast as they could. Get in here and get out while they knew I wasn’t home,” Johnson said.

IID officials said branches encroaching over power lines have caused power outages in various areas nationwide. They encourage residents to visit their website for more information on the need or procedures of keeping vegetation clear of power lines.

Johnson looked for legal advice. A retired attorney said if Johnson can prove that the cutting was extensive and damaging, he may have grounds to sue IID for damages. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:”Table Normal”;mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-parent:””;mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin-top:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-para-margin-left:0in;line-height:107%;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:”Calibri”,sans-serif;mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}