Wyoming welder Andy Johnson built a pond on his farm so he and his family could enjoy fishing, swiming, and watching the ducks and geese. Instead, the results of creating the pond have been frightening – and expensive. Johnson says he was harangued by the Environmental Protection Agency, including threats of civil and criminal penalties which could amount to $75,000 per day.
“I have not paid them a dime nor will I,” a defiant Johnson told FoxNews.com. “I will go bankrupt if I have to fighting it. My wife and I built [the pond] together. We put our blood, sweat and tears into it. It was our dream.”But Johnson may be in for a rude awakening.
The government says he violated the Clean Water Act by building a dam on a creek without a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Further, the EPA claims that material from his pond is being discharged into other waterways. Johnson says he built a stock pond — a man-made pond meant to attract wildlife — which is exempt from Clean Water Act regulations.
The property owner says he followed the state rules for a stock pond when he built it in 2012 and has an April 4-dated letter from the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office to prove it.
“Said permit is in good standing and is entitled to be exercised exactly as permitted,” the state agency letter to Johnson said.
But the EPA isn’t backing down and argues they have final say over the issue. They also say Johnson needs to restore the land or face the fines.
Johnson plans to fight. “This goes a lot further than a pond,” he said. “It’s about a person’s rights. I have three little kids. I am not going to roll over and let [the government] tell me what I can do on my land. I followed the rules.”
Johnson says he was “bombarded by hopelessness” when he first received the administrative order from the EPA. He then turned to state lawmakers who fast-tracked his pleas to Wyoming’s two U.S. senators, John Barrasso and Mike Enzi, and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter.
The Republican lawmakers sent a March 12 letter to Nancy Stoner, the EPA’s acting assistant administration for water, saying they were “troubled” by Johnson’s case and demanding the EPA withdraw the compliance order.
“Rather than a sober administration of the Clean Water Act, the Compliance Order reads like a draconian edict of a heavy-handed bureaucracy,” the letter states.
Source: FoxNews
environmental protection agency…I thought they were about protecting the environment , man builds pond , provides habitat for wildlife , environment protected and enhanced , and man gets penalized for helping environment , please explain the logic
after giving this a little thought I think I have the answer , what the guy needs to do is build a chemical plant next to the pond , and run a drainage ditch from the factory to the pond , pollute and poison the water , kill the fish , make that area totally uninhabitable for wildlife and man alike , then the EPA wont give a rats ass and leave him and his family alone , in fact , they’ll probably fund him to build another environmental disaster
I feel for the land owners, f&$k the EPA
Don’t pay them one red cent. F them.
Common sense has long gone out of this Government.
The EPA is about removing your right to property! One of the grestest threats to freedom of our time
Whoever drafted that order and signed it should take a long deep dive in that pond!
EPA,evil arm of socialism,statism
that is total stupid, he should be able to build whatever he wants to on his land.
Property rights are going away fast. HOAs are accepted by many home owners even though they take away your property rights.
WTF does money have to do with pond water? Bottom line the crime is in statuettes that are so blatantly money grubbing and wrong and guided only by greed. THIS IS CRIMINAL and far more criminal than building a pond…