share this story of a Jersey's last breath (GRAPHIC photos)

[mamagoose]

These photos were taken on September 26, 2012, by the owner when he discovered his Jersey cow and calf missing from the rest of the herd. The cow was pregnant and her calf who was at her side is now an orphan. It is apparent that she was trapped by the logs, struggled to get free, and suffered a painful death. She died because of the arrogance and negligence of a mega natural gas corporation and the inaction of the federal government agency, FERC, to the owner's complaints that Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC refused to protect his livestock and to cease endangering his livestock.




Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC is required by the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) to be in agreement with the landowner in regard to trees that must be cut, including the location of any of the landowner's wood products as a result, and before building fences on a landowner's property.

The orange risers and pipes in the photo are the above-ground wellhead and appurtenances for a natural gas storage well on property in Good Hope Township, Hocking County, Ohio. The well is designated as 12487. Without consulting the landowners as to cutting trees, or building a fence to protect livestock on the property as the landowners specified to FERC in October of 2008 in docket CP08-431 (which can be read at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), Columbia began construction for well 12487 on October 12, 2009.

Columbia cut through the landowners' fence, left it lay on the ground, bulldozed through a pasture field of grazing livestock and began cutting several acres of trees and hauling the landowners' timber from the property without their permission. As soon as one landowner discovered several logging truckloads worth of timber missing from the property, he contacted his attorney. The logs in the photos are the few Columbia did not steal and were piled there by Columbia, which is within approximately 200 feet of well 12487, an area cleared of trees by Columbia. The landowners were not consulted and did not authorize Columbia to locate the logs there. Columbia also parked the heavy equipment in the pasture field each night and weekends, without the landowners' permission.

Columbia constructed a 3-strand barbed wire fence around the gas well area after tree cutting and excavation and prior to drilling, without the landowners' permission. The fence is to the outside of the grass in the photos, which was previously entirely wooded and the logs in the photos are inside Columbia's barbed wire fence. Columbia left barbed wire laying on the ground accessible to livestock without the landowners' permission. Cattle and goats walked through, over, and under the barbed wire fence all around the perimeter on their own accord daily to consume Columbia's newly seeded grass.

The owners repeatedly filed complaints with FERC in regard to the barbed wire fence because it endangered their livestock. FERC did nothing in response.

Columbia has never removed the barbed wire fence, nor has it replaced the barbed wire fence with an appropriate fence, (although Columbia constructed appropriate fences on other properties in the CP08-431 well expansion project for landowners who owned cattle.)

Livestock on the property remain endangered from not only the barbed wire fence, but the pile of logs in the photos and there is no reason to believe that it is of any conscionable concern to Columbia or FERC. Columbia's attorney has not responded to the owner's September 26, 2012 email correspondence regarding this dead Jersey cow.

Although a young cow, her original owner had named her Granny. Please share this story because corrupt corporations must be stopped from causing the death of innocent livestock.

[lemonthyme7]

I have to say I am in agreement with WIHH here. If you knew something was endangering your animals why would you let them stay there. Also, you can tell the logs were cut ahile ago. The landowner should have cut them up and used them/sold them by now. I am not dismissing the neglect on the part of the gas corporation but in my book the cow's owner was neglectful of his animal safety also. I would never leave my animals in an area with barb wire on the ground.

[Plowpoint]

Timber theft happens...I know because it has happened to me, and I have had plenty of fences be destroyed, but before I get my dander up, I like to hear both sides of the story. Stories based entirely on emotion, and on graphic pictures, in my experience tend to have major points of the story conveniently left out.

On my farm, a few left over logs would be quite navigable compared to some of the obstacles my pastures have on them.

I also have found that thieves like to get in and out quickly, which is why timber theft if so rampant, but installing a gas well has long term ramifications. I am guessing that at one time permission was given to the gas company to drill, but the farmer changed his mind or did not like the way the gas well was developed and hence the lawsuit.

I also find it convenient that the bloated, dead carcass just happens to be captured in the foreground with the well head right behind it. Knowing greed in mankind exists, it would not be unplausible to consider that the farmer lost his cow and planted its carcass near the logs in order to emphasis his plight, and increase his settlement in his lawsuit????

It kind of reminds me of a commercial for a humane society a few years back that showed a tractor pushing a dead cow around inside a barn. The video was horrible and vivid...but let me ask you this...I weigh 180 pounds, how could I ever move a dead Holstein cow which weighs 2000 pounds around without a tractor?

Sometimes things are not what they first appear.

[chickenmommy]

Why does the cow look so emaciated? Looks to me like it was there an awful long time before it died. Like it starved to death. That takes a long time. Where was the farmer while this cow was struggling (probably for days unending) to get out of the log trap? He should have been looking for her long before she starved to death.
Of course I do not have cows, never have, so I really don't know how long it would take a cow to starve to death. I know it took my best friends mother more than a week to starve to death and she was extremely sick to start with and not nearly as large as a cow.

[luvrulz]

Those trees have been cut for a L-O-N-G time. If the cattle were in that pasture for any length of time, then the farmer had the responsibility of keeping them safe from climbing over those cut trees. The gas co might be liable, however, the cows belong to the farmer and he needed to keep them safe....bottom line. Why didn't he fence off the trees, the gas well heads or all of the above to keep his 'Granny' safe?

I hate that the farmer was fighting with the mega gas co, and lost his jersey cow in such a tragic and drawn out death. Ultimately, it was his fault for not keeping his animals safe, I think.....

And there isn't a link to the original article....? I find that curious too.....

[PrettyPaisley]

That poor cow.

I don't care about arguing over which *man* did the wrong thing - this beautiful creature suffered an awful death.

Bless her precious heart. They should all be ashamed of themselves. Who would stop to take pictures of this crap when they should have been struggling to help her ???

Odd, there is a hacker group known as the "cult of the dead cow" I hope you didn't get those pictures in an email and click on anything.
Googling "dead cow" "Good Hope Township" and "Columbia Gas Transmission" only leads to this page here.

[mamagoose]

This Jersey cow belonged to my husband. She was certainly not emaciated or malnourished in any way when she died. She certainly had not been dead more than a day when he found her and took the photos. And she was certainly not "planted" there. She was and the rest of the herd of Scottish Highlands and Red Polls is fenced in a 50-acre parcel with a 6-strand high tensile electric fence. The fence my husband built.

Columbia Gas came along and cut all of these trees in this clearing and more for a road and pipeline and put up a 3-strand non-electric barbed wire fence around it within that 50 acres. What trees they didn't steal they left in this pile inside their barbed wire fence. All this was done with hired sheriff deputies in taxpayer cruisers on the property 24/7 for 68 days (at a cost of more than $100,000, which is public record) to make sure we didn't "interfere" with anything they did, because the moment we said anything they would arrest us or re-file for a restraining order against us that they failed to get before they started. As it was, they filed numerous false criminal charges against us.

We challenged this very thing - protection of our livestock, to FERC before they got FERC to grant the Certificate of Public Use and Necessity on our land. We would not sign their release of all claims or take their $7,755.00 in advance for all the damage we knew they would do. They would also do nothing to protect the water supply. That all started in 2008.

In 2009, they showed up with bulldozers and treecutters and sheriff's deputies without any court order. This is the result. My husband had no control over these logs or Columbia's barbed wire fence the cattle walked right through to get to Columbia's new green grass. Anything we would do within Columbia's barbed wire fence would be considered "interference". Until you have dealt with a company like this, you don't know what it's like. We fully expect Columbia to blame us to FERC for the grass not growing well because our cows walked through their barbed wire fence, even when we told FERC a year before Columbia began construction that it would not be adequate. Columbia had no problem building appropriate fences on other properties, but then those landowners signed Columbia's release of all claims and took their pittance offer for damages.

This story has not been published in any newspaper. Our complaints to FERC since 2008 can be read in CP08-431 at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[rambler]

Thanks for clearing up a bit what is going on.

I'm sure you were wronged along the way, many of us are - I had to spend $5000 to fix up a mess the local phone co did my tile lines. Many of us here have had similar issues with utilities.

At some point, is holding the bile, and creating the ruckus, worth the costs to yourselves, yourhealth, and your futures?

Each of us come to our own answers on that.

--->Paul

[luvrulz]

Sorry mamagoose that this is happening, however, if that happened on my farm here in Ky, I would put up my own secure fence around their 3 strand barbed wire fence to keep my cows and critters out and away from the cut trees and their lucsious grass.

When you bought your farm, did you realize the gas co had purchased this easement?

What ever it took to be a good land and animal steward is what I would've done. The argument you have with the gas co doesn't keep your animals safe and that gas co is not going to give a hill of beans what happens to your cows. That is your job.

And I wouldn't buy property in an area that they would have access to like this. There are several farmers here battling with LGE over pretty much the same story and happenings. Personally, we have a small co-operative electric company and my neighbors run that company and serve on the board of directors....hopefully, we're protected.

[mamagoose]

Luvrulz,
The property had been my grandmother's. She signed one of their oil and gas leases like everyone else around back in 1971, but Columbia is regulated by FERC, so under FERC's own regulations, they cannot do what they have done on our property and to us, regardless of the lease. They have a right to drill a well, but not endanger our livestock or damage our property without compensation. We've never been paid a penny for any damages and now we have a dead cow on top of that.



This is a photograph my dad took from his little plane in October of 2009. The two black vehicles in the lower left corner are sheriff cruisers. There was plenty of already cleared area where the well could have been drilled near the existing public road along the tree line, without a single tree ever being cut, etc. and within the 1200' directional drill range of the center of the cleared area they made in the middle of the woods. This photo isn't of the entire 50 acres, there is adequate pasture for the less than 12 head of cattle we keep over there. That is the east side of the township road. The west side has a few acres of pasture, enough for our two horses, dairy goats and weaning calves.

This photo was taken a few weeks after AEP cut down and stole more than 100 of our trees along our entire road frontage and hired the sheriff's deputies to oppress us because they refused to get a road work permit. One deputy assaulted me and my husband with pepper spray on September 9, 2009 right outside our home, 365 feet from the road, because we honked and yelled (from inside our truck) at them to get out of the road so we could get to our driveway. I spent 6 months in jail this past year for the lying deputy who testified that I violently attacked him, when it was he who violently attacked the both of us for no reason. We are $300,000.00+ in debt over all of this because of these two corporations. Our federal civil rights lawsuit against AEP is finally going to trial, since we defeated their motion to dismiss. (2:10cv806, USDC, SD of Ohio, doc.#56).

Yes, it's all very emotionally taxing, but it's all about truth and justice to us. Our fight is not just for us, it's for the "99%".

[mamagoose]

I should add that - I spent 6 months in jail on a sentence when I was not represented by an attorney at the sentencing hearing, nor did I waive my right to an attorney at the hearing. My protest that the court was violating my Constitutional rights during the hearing is, of course, in the transcripts and public record. The corruption against us for standing up for our rights runs very, very deep.

[OkieDavid]

Please scan a copy of the lease agreement that your grandmother signed and post it. There should be a section covering the restitution requirements. I will keep my comments to myself until I see all sides. The fact that restraining orders were issued and Law Enforcement officers had to be stationed there leads me to believe there is too much "unknown" for me to comment.

[unioncreek]

I would look closely at the easement paper work. The only thing I would was illegal would be the taking of the trees and they probably had the right to do it. The easement most likely gave them the right to do the rest of it. If the current landowner signed the easement he should have known everything it contained. And if he bought the property after the easement was sold he should have known what was in it.

Bb

[mamagoose]

I said that NO restraining order was issued against us. The deputies were privately hired by Columbia through Off-Duty Services in Texas. The cruisers on our property is a violation of ORC 311.29, not to mention the uniformed deputies' occupation of OUR property being a violation of our civil rights. This was not done on any other property in the well expansion project (FERC docket CP08-431).

The only clause in the lease agreement is damages for "crops". Columbia told our attorney we had no crops.

I don't know how to post a pdf of the lease, but this is public record:

On October 22, 2009, Columbia stated to FERC in docket CP08-431 in its Bi-Weekly Construction Status Report No. 15, under Section 5, that, “In regard to the Ogles' claim that Columbia has not compensated the Ogles for damages associated with construction activities, Columbia provided the Ogles' attorney an offer for advance general construction damages compensation on August 14, 2008. To date, the Ogles have not accepted the offer. If the Ogles do not accept the offer provided, Columbia will reassess the damages once construction activities are complete and will provide the Ogles an offer at that time.”

On February 10, 2010, Columbia stated to FERC in docket CP08-431 in its Bi-Weekly Construction Status Report No. 22, on page 25, that there would be a “post-construction damage settlement” with the Ogles.

We have never been provided with any post construction damages settlement offer. And I didn't even mention that in the aerial, they had already removed goats from our barn and destroyed the barn, all without our permission, which was right about where they put the logs that killed the Jersey cow.

And Columbia won't even talk about the pipeline right-of-way agreement on the property. They refuse to even acknowledge the damages required in that.

[luvrulz]

In spite of all that has or hasn't happened to you and hubby, I would've found a way to re-fence that area to protect my cows....

If the complaint of losing one of your cows is just another issue and not a big hairy deal in and of itself, then I feel sorry for you.....to me that would be the issue at hand and something you and hubby could've prevented.

I learned a long time ago, you can't fight city hall and you've spent all this money, and where has it gotten you? What county in Ohio are you in? Alot of people around here just recently signed leases with a gas drilling co....did we? Nope. Not worth the headaches..... Did your grandmother ever get anything for her lease??

BTW, the areage looks amazing and wonderful - there are a total of how many acres and is your dad still alive? Who did you hire for an attorney?

[mamagoose]

Columbia submitted to FERC in Appendix I Environmental Construction Standards Docket No. PF08-6-000 filed 4/15/08 on page 3 and 4: “C. Clearing 1. Wood Products Wood Products (i.e., sawlogs, pulpwood or cordwood) are the property of the landowner unless otherwise specified. They will not be used for any purpose unless permission is first obtained from the landowner.; 2. Brush Chipping will be limited to those areas where agreed to with the landowner.; D. Grading 1. Tree Stump and Rock Removal and Disposal Tree stumps and large rocks will be disposed of in the following manner with landowner approval.” Columbia cut, destroyed, and removed trees from the property valued in excess of $10,000.00, committing violations of numerous criminal statutes, including grand theft. Columbia removed all treetops and stumps with attached soil from the property. All without permission of the landowner. They never even consulted us because we wouldn't sign their release of all claims and take their $7,755 in advance. Would you have after you've seen what they've done? And there is no provision for protection of our two water wells because they are not within 150 feet of the gas well hole. A geologist specializing in oil and gas and who is also an attorney, told us that is a must. We gave them an EPA baseline of more than 60 things to test for and they said they didn't have to. Finally FERC told them to test our water before and after drilling. When we finally got the first test results several months after the drilling, the EPA told us that it was worthless because only 4 things had been tested for.

[mamagoose]

Luvrulz,
We (and Farm Credit Services) have 118 acres, now in an LLC. We like the pastures integrated into the woods, but we didn't need any more when they did this. It is hilly, in Hocking County, Ohio.

We simply don't have the funds to fence around Columbia's fence and with where their fence is on the lower side, another fence couldn't even go close to it because of the creek. At first, the cows walked around the barbed wire and were sinking up to their knees on the bank below the barbed wire and the bank was eroding away because of it. FERC did nothing. Then one day, the cows just started walking through the barbed wire.

Columbia is still trying to get a declaratory judgment against us in the same case they tried for a restraining order, to get the state court to declare they had the right to do everything they did. Their first attempt failed and the appeals court reversed and remanded for the court's violation of our rights to due process.

That decision can be read at ogle columbia gas - Google Scholar

We finally had to go it alone when the attorney fees went beyond our resources. We won that battle on our own, but the war wages on.

[Maura]

I'm sorry about all this.

The cow looked thin because she was nursing a calf

[lonelyfarmgirl]

What a horrible thing to be dealing with, and I am so sorry for you guys. If this was me, I would have been livid at the invasion of my property without proper legal procedure.
The cow did not look thin to me. She is a jersey, they are bony. Also, it is clear in the first photo that she was not planted there for effect. If you look around her head, and face you can see the smear marks where she flailed as she died. How terribly sad.