Using metal utility poles instead of wood poles because of concern about wood preservatives in the environment is an unnecessary action that would lead to safety hazards for automobile drivers and passengers, a PP&L environmental engineer said today (2/4).

The National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides released a report today called, "Poison Poles: Their Toxic Trail and the Safe Alternatives," which calls on utilities to use metal poles instead of wood poles.

The environmental group said wood preservatives used in utility poles are the largest pesticide group in the United States. The group listed PP&L as one of the largest users of utility poles in the country.

The study erroneously states that PP&L has 1.8 million utility poles. PP&L only has about 1 million total transmission and distribution poles.

"A PP&L utility pole presents no health risk to the general public," said Jeffrey Bell, a project engineer in Environmental Management. "The only way a health risk could arise is if someone repeatedly had direct contact with the pole and ingested the material on a regular basis. We haven't seen one study that links utility poles with a risk to human health or the environment."

Bell said the alternatives to wooden poles that are being advocated by the environmental group would create a much greater hazard.

"Switching to metal utility poles instead of wood along roadways would create a severe safety hazard for automobile drivers and passengers," Bell said. "Wooden poles typically will snap when struck by a vehicle, metal poles do much more damage."

The state Department of Transportation does not allow metal utility poles within the right-of-way on state roads because of the safety hazard.

PP&L does use large metal poles for transmission lines. The poles, however, are located away from roadways.

PP&L buys wood utility poles treated with chemicals to preserve the wood. The primary chemicals used are creosote, pentachlorophenol and chromated copper arsenate, which is the treatment most commonly used for residential wood decks. Less than 2 percent of PP&L poles are treated with pentachlorophenol. Chromated copper is used primarily on large transmission poles.

"The poles are pressure-treated and nearly all the material stays within the pole," Bell said. "The purpose of the treating is to keep the material in the wood and to preserve it as long as possible."

The average creosote-treated pole lasts about 50 years at PP&L, Bell said.

"The materials and the process is no different than what's done to the pressure-treated lumber someone buys to build a patio deck," Bell said. "People should not use it as firewood or eat off it or store feed for livestock on it, but as long as you are not ingesting the material, it doesn't cause a problem."

There are regulations related to the manufacturing of pressure-treated utility poles, but there are no regulations on poles once they are in use. The environmental group's report blames EPA for what it calls a failed regulatory process related to wood preservatives.