So I'm sure it is a little late to do anything about it seeing as the last time I was at one of the locations they were already digging but I was curious if anyone could answer how gas companies are permitted to put lines through cemeteries? One if the two in question is the soldiers cemetery at Bushy Run Battlefield in Southwestern PA. Brief background, Bushy Run was the site of a battle during Pontiacs Rebellion. On August 5th and 6th 1763, a combined force of between 150-500 Mohawk, Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo and Huron ambushed a British column of 500 Regulars/Highlanders and several hundred militia with teamsters in tow, marching on Forbes road to the relief of the besieged garrison at Fort Pitt. After several exchanges and charges on both sides Col. Bouquet pulled his men back about 300 yards to a more defendable position, forming a redoubt on a hill near the road. On the sixth, he weakened his line drawing in the Native Forces and caught them off guard with a flank attack by the Highlanders. The Natives drew off and Bouquet limped to Fort Pitt with a large percentage of the fighting force made casualties. Unable to recover the KIA from the action and still be an effective fighting force, Col. Bouquet left them on the field. When he arrived at Fort Pitt and broke the siege, he sent a force back to the area to recover and bury the casualties. As the Natives recovered their KIA already the only ones left were about 50 British and American militia. Unable to take them back, they grouped then buried them on the hill of the first days fight next to Forbes Road. When I was younger and lived closer my parents would take me there fairly regularly. The area is well taken care of and the field staff are always helpful. It is one of the places that nurtured my love of history and being respectful of the fallen, the Union Jack flew over the hill the cemetery was on. So you can imagine my shock when I stopped for a brief visit a few weeks ago and there were pipeline crews digging straight through the crown of the hill. They had even removed the Union Jack. Now for a disclaimer, the hill the cemetery is on I believe is privately owned and since the park is small, the staff being volunteer, they have never had the resources to do very many digs in the area save the odd professional metal detector crew. So the only real evidence of the cemetery are the reports of Col. Bouquet and his officers that returned to the field later. Furthermore the entire field had been used as a farm for decades with people regularly visiting after the fields we're plowed and taking battlefield artifacts home with them, like swords, bullets and pieces of rifles. The second case is more recent. The cemetery is in the Mon-Valley and is dated to colonial time. There are, early settlers, Revolutionary War soldiers and even Native American graves in it. It was in use until the 19th century. Fell into disrepair and was virtually erased when the river flooded carrying away the gravestones. Now you would never know it was there unless a local told you, which is what happened to me. But it is there on older maps of the area and now has a small pipeline going through the center of it. I guess my question is how can they be able to dig the lines through these areas? I understand they are a fact of life but what is the big deal about rerouting the line around the cemeteries? Why does it become necessary to disturb the final resting places of war dead and those entered into graveyards overgrown or not? I guess the callousness of it on the part of gas companies just upset me. Makes me wonder is there anything that can be done about it to prevent it or correct it?