When George Bruckner looks skyward, he sees the last bastion of open space on his family's 213-acre farm in Jefferson, Greene County.

But soon, he will see swooping 500-kilovolt power lines strung on enormous towers cutting across his property, much the way the gas transmission pipelines and coal fields beneath have torn the fabric of his land.

It's not so much that Mr. Bruckner blames Allegheny Power for its plan to stretch a power line across his property. He's not sure why it's needed, but his family sold a right-of-way to the utility company some 30 years ago, he said. And Mr. Bruckner, 57, is prepared to honor it, albeit reluctantly.

Mr. Bruckner's objection has to do with a family cemetery he maintains on the property. The small, six-plot site includes the grave of Revolutionary War soldier John Villars, who, according to his gravestone, fought at Fort Pitt with Lt. William Withers' Rangers from 1776 to 1779. Mr. Villars died at the age of 92 in 1836.

The graves belong to the Villars family, from whom Mr. Bruckner's family purchased the farm in 1859. The Bruckners allow Villars' descendants from 10 states to use the cemetery for family reunions whenever they like, and Mr. Bruckner maintains the cemetery year-round out of respect and as a hobby.

The problem is the path of the power line, which will take it immediately over the cemetery, according to the route that's currently laid out.

Mr. Bruckner sees it as a lack of respect for the dead, and a smirch on an historic landmark. He offered to trade the right-of-way on another nearby site at no cost, but the company turned him down, he said, telling him the chosen route was the easiest on which to build the 120-foot to 140-foot towers.

"There's nothing but wide open space on either side of it," he said of the cemetery.

Also limiting the location of power lines are five natural gas transmission pipelines that were installed on the property by Duke Energy during the 1940s and 1950s, he said. The 30-inch and 36-inch lines require 100-foot rights of way, and have been dug up and replaced repeatedly over the years. They carry natural gas from Texas to the East Coast.

At the time, Mr. Bruckner's grandparents, George and Laura Bruckner, thought they were being patriotic, he said, selling the rights of way at nominal cost for the greater good.

Earlier, in 1910, Mr. Bruckner's great aunt, Mary Bruckner, who lived in a log cabin on the property, sold its mineral rights for about $2,000 to $3,000 -- quite a sum at the time -- so she could keep the struggling farm afloat.

Along with the gas lines that displaced more 100 head of cattle, longwall mining damaged or ruined most of the springs and wells on the farm during the 1990s.

When the family's cattle could no longer find water, one of Mr. Bruckner's brothers, Bill, began hauling water in 400-gallon round tanks provided by the township to residents who lost water. On the way back to the farm in a pickup truck, he hit a tree and was crushed to death by the water tank.

Eventually, when the longwall mining stopped and the gas company ceased digging, Mr. Bruckner and his other brother Donald were able to build their beef cattle herd back up to about 135.

Their mother, Aldene, resides in a nursing home in Clarksville, and the family farmhouse has too little water to support a family. So, Mr. Bruckner lives in a mobile home near the cemetery where he can tap into water for the cattle.

If the power line goes in, his mobile home will be on the right-of-way and will have to be moved. He said there is nowhere else on the property where there is no gas right-of-way and water available for the cattle, so he anticipates having to thin the herd again.

When he heard about the power company plans in December, Mr. Bruckner said he was stunned.

"I almost keeled over," he said.

Allegheny Energy spokesman David Neurohr said the company will work with property owners such as Mr. Bruckner to resolve issues.

He said Allegheny Power, a subsidiary of Allegheny Energy, is familiar with Mr. Bruckner's case and is in discussions with him to come up with a solution that's fair to both sides.

"We will work with him to come up with an agreement that's satisfactory," Mr. Neurohr said.

Mr. Bruckner said he hopes an agreement can be ironed out that would save the cattle herd, but he's less optimistic about the cemetery.

"I can't respect anybody that won't respect the dead," he said.

First Published: July 6, 2007, 10:15 a.m.