The ongoing battle, over whether the Sun Oil Co., the nation's largest distributor and marketer of finished petroleum, has the right to clear trees over an underground pipeline in the Town of Tonawanda appears to be heading closer to court.
    Sun Oil is the parent company of Sunoco, one of Western New York's largest gas retailers.
    The controversy centers on Koenig Road, a street of big trees
and small homes between Niagara Falls Boulevard, near the Youngmann Highway.
    Sun officials contend that they "must" cut trees near their 58-year' old pipeline, along a right of way that has never been cleared. Sun asserts it needs to facilitate easier access and inspection.
    Many in town, including Koenig Road residents and Town Supervisor, Carl Calabrese, oppose Sun's plan, which would practically clear the south side of the road and many of its stately and majestic trees.
    Thus far, this opposition has put a halt to Sun's plans.
    Invoking section 197-3a of the town code, which prohibits removing roadside trees without a permit, and which, if granted, could only come after an environmental review, Calabrese has forbidden Sun to carry out their tree- cutting project.
    "If they send anybody with a chain saw, then they better be prepared to bail them out," he said. "As fast as you can say 'Sun,' I will instruct the town police to arrest them."
    Sun has refused to comply with the town's permit granting process.
    Their Philadelphia-based attorneys, Hancock and Estabrook, citing legal precedent, in a 17-page memorandum, wrote in it that "tree removal ordinances... are not enforceable with respect to Sun Oil's right of way...."
    The attorneys also suggested a court of law would overrule
Calabrese's case.
    Calabrese responded, "If it has to go to court, then so be it. (But) unless a judge order it. Sun Oil is not going to take down one publicly owned tree," he said. "And, if we lose in court, we're going to appeal it."
    Calabrese discounted Sun's oft repeated claim that their tree removal project is a "safety" issue, added, "if there really was a problem, I could dispatch a highway crew to take down a tree immediately.
    "What they really want to do is to cut the trees for their own convenience to facilitate (cheaper) aerial: inspections," he said.
    Operators of underground, petroleum pipelines are required by Federal Dot regulation 195.412(a) to walk; drive or fly over pipelines, "at least, 26 tildes a year" to check for evidence of leakage.
    Only aerial inspections require a clear cut right of way.
    To clarify, officially, the federal government's position, D.K. Sharma, a senior DOT official, in Washington D.C., wrote to Congressman John J. LaFalce, at the Congressmen's re-
quest, on May 2, 1995.
    While acknowledging that "flying may be the most practical sur-
veillance technique," Sharma wrote that if Sun did not succeed with their plan to clear cut the trees, then they "must (continue to) walk or drive the right of way."
    More significantly, Sharma confirmed that "emergency and spill response plans can be carried out without a clear right of way."
    Sun spokesmen. Bud Davis, giving a clue as to the severity of the problem from Sun's perspective, indicated that the company already has cleared 228 of 252 miles of this pipeline for aerial inspection and if they were to be stopped here it would set
a "precedent."
    The corporation which employs 14,000 people, and grossed $9.8 billion in 1994, owns or operates 7000 miles of pipeline.
    County Legislator Charles Swanick, (D-Kenmore), has been
closely monitoring the dispute.
    He sides with the residents, and is prepared to take the issue countywide, if necessary, through a legislative action in the county legislature which would memorialize its opposition to Sun's tree- cutting project.
    "If I were Sun Oil, I would look at this closely. You can't have neighbors maintain an area, beautify it for 58 years and then come along and suddenly turn the land to dust...
    "They (Sun) are part of the Western New York family. I would consider, carefully, if I were them, that there are a lot of places where Wesern New Yorkers can buy gasoline" he said.
    Sun Oil is the parent company of Sunoco, one of the leading retailers of Finished petroleum in WNY.