Jim Beam pipeline by Hart Hagen
SINKHOLES CROP UP ON FARMS NEAR LG&E DRILLING SITES
Elizabeth Werkmeister Shafer grows Christmas trees on 7.3 acres that her family has owned for 45 years. Shafer took over the family business two years ago, on the farm where she played as a child.
So there was no mistaking this past December when she started to notice sinkholes that had not been there before. She knows every square foot of the property, so if sinkholes has been there before, she would have known it.
Now she’s dealing with a dozen of sinkholes many as wide as her mower deck, one that could be as much as nine feet across.
Shafer is certain these sinkholes are caused by unauthorized, unpermitted drilling operations carried on by LG&E on nearby properties.
Quoting Shafer:
“Where I live, the farm on either side of me has underground springs. The property been in the family since 1973. And all of a sudden I’ve had sinkholes that popped up shortly after they had started drilling in December,” said Shafer.
“I noticed that I had a few that popped up that weren’t too big. They were 9-10 inches deep, running the width of my lawn mower. They were growing because I had to start being really careful so I could make sure I didn’t run over them with my lawn mower so I could make sure I didn’t get stuck.”
“After the rain that we had on Easter, I noticed a huge sinkhole that is roughly 3 feet deep and about 3 feet wide.”
“There’s 9 inches of topsoil and it’s hollow underneath, so if I run any type of equipment over it, it will sink even further. And I’ve been told it will turn over my tractor.”
“In one little area we’ve had five [sinkholes]. The ground is starting to get super soft when you walk on it.”
“I’m worried that this one is going to open up and it’s going to be about 8 or 9 feet wide, because—from the beginning of one to the start of another one—it’s about 8 or 9 feet.”
“I’m familiar with [this property] and have been around it for 45 years, and we’ve never had this issue.”
“And then all of a sudden they start doing some drilling and then I start getting these little things that are popping up that are 8-9 inches deep and 3 feet wide.”
“It’s land that I’m familiar with and we’ve never had this problem in over 40 years.”
“They are drilling about a quarter mile away from me, or less. It’s the farm that’s next to me.”
“A neighbor said there have been 15 sinkholes to pop up in the field over on the farm where they had actually done the drilling.”
WHY ALL THE DRILLING?
LG&E apparently wants us to believe that by drilling they are surveying for pipeline construction. But they’ve drilled holes as deep as 300 feet.
Why? To place a pipeline three to six feet under the surface?
When you drill 300 feet you’re looking for something WAY down in the ground... like natural gas and oil ... as if they may have plans to extract fossil fuels, not just build a pipeline.
On the property line of Vanessa Allen, LG&E (or possibly their contractor) drilled a 300 foot hole from which water and natural gas spewed for days.
Two points:
1) When water comes out of a 300 foot hole, that causes sinkholes to pop up nearby.
2) When natural gas comes out of a 300 foot hole, that means greenhouse gases.
In the age of climate change, the last thing we need is natural gas spewing into the air, because natural gas contains methane, which is 80 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
TAKING WHAT IS NOT THEIRS
By all appearances, LG&E and Jim Beam (reportedly the sole customer of this pipeline), are taking what is not theirs.
LG&E and Jim Beam are not paying for the diminished value of properties due to the sinkholes.
LG&E and Jim Beam are not paying for the legal fees or the fair value of the property owners’ time that they have to spend fighting to keep what is theirs.
LG&E and Jim Beam are not paying for the climate catastrophe caused by greenhouse gases.
In a later installment we will talk with Christy Collins, who will give us a unique view from her perspective as a property owner, caver and building inspector, as well as a relentless advocate for justice in this case.
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