LAREDO, Texas (AP) — A company owned by Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett is suing a pipeline builder claiming it destroyed the habitat of the endangered ocelot on a South Texas ranch.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Laredo says Eagle Ford Midstream LP violated the federal Endangered Species Act by clearing land to build a natural gas pipeline.
The suit says the pipeline company was awarded eminent domain on land owned by Beckett Ventures Inc. and falsely told the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service that it wasn’t suitable habitat for the endangered wild cat.
Beckett’s company claims the pipeline builder engaged in “willful destruction” by clearing land after a notice of intent to sue was filed in August.
A phone message left with Eagle Ford Midstream’s parent company wasn’t immediately returned.
