Dodgers MVP sues Eagle Ford Shale over ocelots

FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Josh Beckett throwing during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Los Angeles. A company owned by 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. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) less FILE - This Sept. 13, 2012 file photo shows Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Josh Beckett throwing during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals in Los Angeles. A company owned ... more Photo: Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press Photo: Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Dodgers MVP sues Eagle Ford Shale over ocelots 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett is suing an Eagle Ford Shale pipeline company for destroying an endangered ocelot habitat on his ranch in La Salle County.

According to the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Laredo, Eagle Ford Midstream and its parent company Midstream, told the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is charged with protecting the endangered species, there was no ocelot habitat on Beckett's 7,000 acre South Texas ranch.

The pipeline company then continued with survey work for constructing the pipeline despite ranch representatives giving it an alternative route and letting it know it would be sued in federal court if it continued.

The lawsuit maintains the 15- to 30-pound nocturnal cat, which is famous for its spotted fur and reclusive behavior, travels along the river corridors and tributaries that cross the ranch.

There are believed to be only 50 ocelots left living in the United States.

The notice of intent to sue stated that “multiple big cat tracks” were located and photographed as recently as June, and Beckett observed ocelots on his property as recently as November.

Michael Tewes, a large-cat expert from the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, visited the ranch after the pipeline corridor was cleared and identified ocelot habitat, including where the pipeline would be built.

“They started bulldozing for 10 days,” said environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn, who is representing Beckett Ventures, which owns the Herradura Ranch. “I think it is an arrogant move of a company that is relatively dismissing of federal law.”

The company declined to comment.

If the company is found to have destroyed habitat and harmed the species, it will be in violation of federal law and could face fines and be forced to do mitigation for harming the ocelot.

Beckett, a 12-year major league veteran, is a two-time World Series champion and was named World Series MVP in 2003.

He was born in Spring and is an avid deer hunter, winning the Muy Grande contest for deer hunting in 2002. Nolan Ryan has won the same award.