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.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)