Northern Ag Network Note: This case was originally reported in March of 2014, and was brought back to life in the media due to the popularity of an Op-Ed piece published in June of this year by Kentucky Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell titled: “Clean water rule just more outrageous government overreach“. According to the Senators:
A cautionary tale can be found in the story of Andy Johnson, a farmer who built a stock pond on his eight-acre Wyoming farm. He spent hours building it and filling it with fish, ducks and geese. Now the EPA is claiming that he violated the Clean Water Act by building the pond without a permit and is threatening to fine him $75,000 — a day.
It's time to stop Washington bureaucrats from telling us how to use our properties for no other reason than that they think they can. That's why we are leading the fight against these busybodies and working together to restore property rights and promote economic freedoms.
Originally published in March 2014 by Alex Cabrero, Deseret News
FORT BRIDGER, Wyo. — It was a dream come true several years ago when Andy Johnson built a pond on his property to stock fish, let his kids play and provide a spot where his horses could have a drink.
But now that dream has turned into a nightmare. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency accused him of violating the Clean Water Act by damming the middle of Six Mile Creek and polluting the water to build the pond.
The agency is threatening Johnson with a $75,000 per day fine — a penalty often reserved for companies that emit toxic hazards — until he tears it all down.
“I think they’re trying to gain jurisdiction,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to see if they can run over me, and then they will get into everyone’s irrigation ditch and stock ponds throughout not only Wyoming, but the United States.”
Johnson’s pond was created with a dam on a nearby creek in Fort Bridger, which he built about five years ago. He got the right permits from Wyoming state agencies.
“I acquired a stock pond reservoir permit,” he said. “They said go ahead and build it. When I was done with the project, I got a hold of them again and did a final on it, and they sent me a paper back saying I’m in good standing, that my pond was exactly exercised as permitted.”
The EPA maintains Johnson broke a law by failing to obtain a federal permit before constructing the pond.
The EPA requires projects on the “waters of the United States” to receive the Army permit, the Associated Press reported. The EPA's logic for deeming the 2-foot-wide, 6-inch-deep section of the Creek a part of the “waters of the United States” goes as follows: Six Mile Creek is a tributary of the Blacks Fork River, which is a tributary of the Green River. Because of Six Mile Creek's relationship to the larger waterways, the EPA claims the creek is subject to the Clean Water Act.
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Source: Deseret News
A recent article by FactCheck provided the following update in June 2015 regarding the case:
The EPA said building the dam resulted in pollutants being discharged into the water; the agency said that Johnson needed a permit from the Corps of Engineers, which he did not seek or obtain. EPA officials say that Johnson, like Lucas, received multiple warnings before any enforcement actions were taken, FactCheck.org found.
Johnson and his wife, Katie, said they will continue to fight the EPA, saying that they did tests that showed that water leaving the pond is much cleaner than that entering it.
The two sides are talking, however.
In a statement to Fox News, the EPA said in part: “EPA staff recently had a productive discussion with Mr. Johnson, and we are currently reviewing information he sent to our attention regarding his construction of a dam and pond within Six Mile Creek. EPA will carefully evaluate this information and will continue to reach out to Mr. Johnson to identify options to secure compliance with the Clean Water Act.”