In yet another story of the illicit actions of a federal government that has grown too large and too powerful–and too arrogant–a man in Wyoming is being “fined” tens of millions of dollars by the Environmental Protection Agency for daring to build a small retention pond on his property saying it somehow violates federal law even though the man got the 100% approval of his state EPA.
What we have here is the arrogance of Obama’s government swooping in, ignoring state sovereignty and treating citizens like criminals.
But this rancher isn’t just lying down. He is fighting back.
A rancher is taking the Environmental Protection Agency to federal court, asking a judge to stop the agency from fining him more than $16 million because he built a small pond on his property.
Andy Johnson of Fort Bridger, Wyoming says he made sure to get the proper permits from his state government before building the pond. After all, this is America in the 21st century, and nothing done on your own property — certainly when it involves the use of water — is beyond government concern.
Johnson is facing millions in fines from the federal government after the EPA determined his small pond — technically a “stock pond” to provide better access to water for animals on his ranch — is somehow violating the federal Clean Water Act.
“We went through all the hoops that the state of Wyoming required, and I’m proud of what we built,” Johnson said. “The EPA ignored all that.”
Worse, it took the rancher months to build the pond but the EPA was only going to give him30 days to dismantle the pond and return the land to the way it was beforehand. That is an actual impossibility!
It’s all more proof that the federal government doesn’t imagine it is here to serve the people.