EPA threatens to fine man $75k per day for homemade pond

A Wyoming man named Andy Johnson got all the required state permits when he built a stock pond on his land a couple years ago. But now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is threatening Johnson with fines of up to $75,000 per day, claiming that the two-foot wide, six-inch deep stream he used is subject to federal control.

Johnson plans to fight the charge, which he says is groundless because the stream flows past the pond and thus isn't truly dammed. "I think they're trying to gain jurisdiction," he said. "They're trying to see if they can run over me, and then they will get into everyone's irrigation ditch and stock ponds throughout not only Wyoming, but the United States."

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