A VICTORY FOR COMMON SENSE
Wyoming welder, facing $16M in fines, beats EPA in battle over stock pond
A Wyoming man threatened with $16 million in fines over the building of a stock pond reached a settlement with the Environment Protection Agency, allowing him to keep the pond without a federal permit or hefty fine.
Andy Johnson, of Fort Bridger, Wyoming obtained a state permit before building the stock pond in 2012 on his sprawling nine-acre farm for a small herd of livestock.
Not long after construction, the EPA threatened Johnson with civil and criminal penalties – including the threat of a $37,500-a-day fine -- claiming he needed the agency's permission before building the 40-by-300 foot pond, which is filled by a natural stream.
"It was very threatening," Johnson, a professional welder and married father of four, said of the EPA's compliance order against him.
"I was shocked and devastated and I didn’t know what to do," Johnson told FoxNews.com Tuesday. "I’m sitting there thinking, 'I’m the only provider for my whole family. How can I fight this?'"
On Monday, lawyers representing Johnson announced that the federal government agreed to resolve the case and a federal court has approved.
Under the settlement, Johnson's pond will remain and he won't pay any fines or concede any federal jurisdiction to regulate the pond. And the government won't pursue any further enforcement actions based on the pond's construction.
"This is a victory for common sense and the environment, and it brings an end to all the uncertainty and fear that the Johnson family faced,” said Jonathan Wood, a staff attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation who represented Andy Johnson in his court challenge to the EPA, and in negotiating the settlement.
"The EPA never identified any environmental problems with the pond," Wood told FoxNews.com. "In fact, it's been a boom for the environment."
foxnews.com
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