Utility agrees to pay for dead cattle
By David Clemons
The Reporter
Published November 14, 2006
A DeKalb County man made a grim discovery Friday morning.
Most of Jeff Buttram’s heifers in a pasture died after the crossarm supporting a 46,000-volt line broke, causing the line to dangle off the ground.
A support for the Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative line fell, causing the line to dangle about a foot off the ground in a pasture where Buttram kept some of his best cattle.
The heifers were electrocuted.
Buttram’s family originally thought the line was maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority, but it turned out to be a Marshall-DeKalb line.
And the Boaz-based utility agreed to make good on Buttram’s loss.
“They said not to worry about it,” Buttram said Monday afternoon.
Buttram said he is tallying up the cost of the 27 heifers.
Buttram has had the farm, near Geraldine, for about seven years. He has about 200 brood cows remaining that were in another pasture.
Scott Bobo, safety director and environmental compliance officer for Marshall-DeKalb, said he doesn’t remember anything like this happening before.
“We’re still investigating the cause, but the line just fell,” he said. “It didn’t reach the ground. It was off the ground about three or so feet.
“We don’t know what happened. Undoubtedly they were just curious that something had happened and just kept walking into it.”
Bobo said the break on the line did not cause a power outage. However, electric service was disrupted briefly when the line was repaired.
Buttram said he doesn’t expect to have the heifers replaced by the beginning of 2007.
“I’m going to buy them back, so I’m just going to look around and find somebody that’s got the quality of stuff that they were,” he said.
By David Clemons
The Reporter
Published November 14, 2006
A DeKalb County man made a grim discovery Friday morning.
Most of Jeff Buttram’s heifers in a pasture died after the crossarm supporting a 46,000-volt line broke, causing the line to dangle off the ground.
A support for the Marshall-DeKalb Electric Cooperative line fell, causing the line to dangle about a foot off the ground in a pasture where Buttram kept some of his best cattle.
The heifers were electrocuted.
Buttram’s family originally thought the line was maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority, but it turned out to be a Marshall-DeKalb line.
And the Boaz-based utility agreed to make good on Buttram’s loss.
“They said not to worry about it,” Buttram said Monday afternoon.
Buttram said he is tallying up the cost of the 27 heifers.
Buttram has had the farm, near Geraldine, for about seven years. He has about 200 brood cows remaining that were in another pasture.
Scott Bobo, safety director and environmental compliance officer for Marshall-DeKalb, said he doesn’t remember anything like this happening before.
“We’re still investigating the cause, but the line just fell,” he said. “It didn’t reach the ground. It was off the ground about three or so feet.
“We don’t know what happened. Undoubtedly they were just curious that something had happened and just kept walking into it.”
Bobo said the break on the line did not cause a power outage. However, electric service was disrupted briefly when the line was repaired.
Buttram said he doesn’t expect to have the heifers replaced by the beginning of 2007.
“I’m going to buy them back, so I’m just going to look around and find somebody that’s got the quality of stuff that they were,” he said.
