Wyoming family wins water battle with EPA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tuesday Andy Johnson, a rancher in Fort Bridger, Wyoming, claimed a victory over the Environmental Protection Agency, retaining his stock pond that was permitted by the appropriate state agencies.  

The EPA claimed jurisdiction over the pond and threatened tens of thousands of dollars in daily fines as long as the pond remained, saying the pond required federal permitting as well. 

In 2013, the EPA threatened to fine Johnson up to $187,500 per day for building a pond on his property.

The Johnsons can now keep their stock pond and will not be fined.

The terms of the settlement assure that the Johnson family will pay no fines, does not concede any federal jurisdiction to regulate the pond, and that the government will not pursue any further enforcement.    

U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., issued the following statement in response:

“That the EPA took as long as they did to admit their overreach and stop bullying and threatening the Johnson family is a gross abuse.  This pond, on private land, was never under the federal agency’s purview and it was far past time the EPA realized that and backed down.  I will continue fighting the EPA’s overreach in every form and at every level throughout the last throes of this reckless administration and I congratulate Andy Johnson and his family on this victory for all landowners.”

U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said, “The Johnson family is no different from other American families across the country. They just want to do the right thing and be left in peace. Instead, under the Obama administration, people like Andy Johnson have to spend more and more time and money battling out-of-control Washington agencies like the EPA.

“It shouldn’t have come to this. Local land-use decisions should never be driven by Washington, and the EPA should never be able to fine someone millions of dollars for building a pond on their own land.

“This settlement is a welcome rebuke of an agency that has gone too far. In the Senate, I will continue to work to block these kinds of regulatory assaults.”

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said, “It’s nice to see the EPA put in check a little bit. All the worry and angst that Mr. Johnson and his family had to go through, and even the embarrassment that the EPA should be experiencing right now, could easily have been avoided if only the EPA would follow the law instead of trying to make new laws on its own,” said Enzi. “I appreciate Mr. Johnson’s determination to stand up to a bully. I’ll continue to work in the Senate to see that the EPA and other federal agencies that are expanding beyond their authority are no longer able to.”