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Rancher Andy Johnson has had a difficult year battling President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency. Last year, the EPA claimed Johnson’s stock pond was violating federal regulations and correspondingly demanded $37,500 in fines per day, each and every day he kept his pond — which, ironically, had already been given the green light by the state of Wyoming.
The federal government and Johnson have been in a legal battle for over a year now — thankfully, the rural rancher has come through victorious, according to WND. They reached an agreement that pretty much put the Obama administration in its proper place on this issue.
“Importantly, under the settlement, the Johnson family’s pond will remain; they won’t pay any fines; they don’t concede any federal jurisdiction to regulate their pond; and the government won’t pursue any further enforcement actions based on the pond’s construction,” the legal team revealed.
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Speaking of fines, Johnson had amassed $16 million in fines up to the filing date. That’s about as cold of a shoulder as you can get from the Obama administration. However, he now doesn’t have to pay a single penny.
“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 Pacific Legal Foundation Staff Attorney Jonathan Wood.
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Johnson released a fantastic statement about the lengthy ordeal:
“This is a huge victory for us as well as private property owners across the country. The next family that finds itself in our situation, facing ominous threats from EPA, can take heart in knowing that many of these threats will not come to pass. If, like us, you stand up to the overreaching bureaucrats, they may very well back down.”
The EPA, along with nearly every other governmental department, should be shut down so that the free market can be allowed to “regulate” the way our country works — which it does much, much better than the federal government does.
They’re nothing but a tool by which the government can oppress American citizens, collect money, and accumulate power.
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