Another story about our out of control Fed govt. Land of the Free, not so much. Oh look! The EPA is a giant jackwagon! GGGRR. Lets discuss what theyve done this time. Andy Johnson, a welder in Wyoming, built a man-made pond on his 8 acres of property - after he went and got himself a little permit from the state to do so back in 2012. In fact, the permit dated April 4 stated, Said permit is in good standing and is entitled to be exercised exactly as permitted. So yeah - he and his wife went out and spent countless hours building their pond. But because its a stock pond - meant to attract wildlife - the EPA is saying that its exempt from Clean Water Regulations. You know, on HIS property. (Because we never really own our own property, in case you were wondering, minions.) 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. Naturally, this means that the almighty EPA is going to fine Andy Johnson $37,500 per day in civil penalties and another $37,500 per day in fines for statutory violations. I mean, someones gotta pay the folks salaries at the EPA. And it might as well be this little family, huh? Seems about right. We are talking about the government here. Anywho, you can imagine how Johnson felt when he received the letter from the EPA, so he contacted his state lawmakers, who wrote a letter saying that they were troubled, and also included this morsel: The authority of the EPA has recently been called into question over proposed rule changes that would redefine what bodies of water the government agency will oversee under the Clean Water Act. The proposed changes would give the agency a say in ponds, lakes, wetlands and any stream -- natural or manmade -- that would have an effect on downstream navigable waters on both public land and private property. “If the compliance order stands as an example of how EPA intends to operate after completing its current ‘waters of the United States’ rulemaking, it should give pause to each and every landowner throughout the country... Pause, indeed. In the meantime, Johnson isnt budging. He said, “I have not paid them a dime nor will I. 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.” And I dig that about him. I dont know about yall, but Id be bankrupt pretty quickly. And Im thinking the Johnsons are no exception. And Im also thinking the government knows this. Which makes me seethe with anger even more. Absolute. Freaking. TYRANNY. Keep fighting, Mr. Johnson. And SUCK IT, EPA.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 12:48:44 +0000