I put my garden within 100 feet of the gas main (the one that supplies gas to hundreds of houses), and now the gas company is concerned about where it is. Do they have a right to be if other trees have established themselves closer to the line for many years, and it's on the neighbors property, not ours? I did investigate with the neighbor who's a real estate agent before doing anything.
Since when does the gas company have any right to say what homeowners can and can't do on their own land as long as it doesn't interfere directly with the line (i.e. digging it up, or within a foot of it)?