You had better check to see if your water is clean according to the clean water act or you might be raided by the Environmental Protection Agency SWAT team. Fox News reported that armed EPA agents last month raided a mining district in Chicken, Alaska, a town with a population of 17 people. EPA officials acknowledged they did indeed have armed agents in full body armor participating in what they called the “Alaska Environmental Crimes Task Force investigation” of the mining district allegedly violating the clean water act. But, EPA officials said that the operation was not a “raid” and would not acknowledge whether the raid was connected to possible human and drug trafficking. "Environmental law enforcement, like other forms of law enforcement, always involves the potential for physical, even armed, confrontation, “an EPA official said. Gold miner C.R. Hammond was not happy. He told the Alaska Dispatch newspaper, “Imagine coming up to your diggings, only to see agents swarming over it like ants, wearing full body armor, with jackets that say "POLICE" emblazoned on them, and all packing side arms.” The other federal agencies participating in the operation were the FBI, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and the Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Park Service.Alaska Governor Sean Parnell has already ordered an investigation, saying “This level of intrusion and intimidation of Alaskans is absolutely unacceptable. I will not tolerate any state agency’s participation in this sort of reckless conduct. There are many unanswered questions and I will seek a special counsel to get to the bottom of this matter and work to ensure it never happens again.” Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich want inquiries as well. Murkowski told the Alaska Dispatch that purported concerns about rampant drug and human trafficking sounded “wholly concocted.” Murkowski also told the newspaper, “This seems to have been a heavy-handed and heavy-armor approach. Why was it so confrontational? The EPA really didn’t have any good answers for this.” Agreed. Why did the EPA need armed agents to investigate possible violations of the clean water act? Congress should order EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to review and reevaluate just how the masterminds in her agency handle clean water act investigations. If it is happening in Alaska, your residence, your city, your state could be next. Yes, friends, America is rapidly becoming a police state. But, after all, President Obama said during his 2008 campaign that he wanted a civilian armed force equal to America’s military to perform domestic policing. It looks like his promise is coming true.
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 08:15:55 +0000