...One of Pruitt's first targets is a controversial rule on water pollution put in place by the Obama administration that he deemed a "power grab" by environmental regulators. To better understand why property rights advocates applauded the move, consider the case of fourth-generation farmer John Duarte, who has fought a protracted and costly legal battle with federal regulators over how to till his 450-acre farm in Tehama County, California. In 2012, the Army Corps of Engineers, working in conjunction with the EPA, accused Duarte of damaging wetland features on his property. He was hit with $30 million in fines and restoration fees. The EPA has used this provision to micromanage private land use. Duarte's troubles stemmed from a ... provision in the Clean Water Act known as the Waters of the United States rule that was meant to better protect large bodies of water by regulating use of the streams, ponds, and ditches that flow into them. The EPA has used this provision to micromanage private land use. The agency accused Duarte of mismanaging the wetland areas located on his property, claiming that his four-inch plow furrows created small mountain ranges. They contend Duarte should have obtained a permit before tilling his own land...more
Here is the Reason video
https://youtu.be/qlBX6UoBfx8
Also of interest, our friends at Protect America Now recently posted New Mexico rancher Bill Weddle's chronicle of his run-in with this issue.
5 comments:
RE Duarte - how can a 2012 plowing be a violation of a 2015 provision of the CWA..? How can a law be enforced before the provision goes into effect?
You are correct. There is an error in the text which is not in the video. I've edited "2015" from the text. Thanks for the catch on this.
RE Weddle - Not allowing evidence seems to be a trend now in the justice system as well as his lawyer getting axed - literally.
Google "payoffs for judges" by Pat Shannon - in 2009, Oregon defense lawyer, Pat Bergenson, complained to judge Anna Brown - yes the same Anna Brown - about jury tampering (dejavu, anyone?)
The next morning she was found strangled at her kitchen table, doors locked, no forced entry, no burgulary or any signs of a struggle.
Another article I saw said that her laptop was opened to that court case in question.
Case still unsolved, because crime scene compromised because it was first treated like a 'natural cause' death. She was daughter of CA congresswoman Maxine Bergenson.
I also read somewhere that Brown retaliates against defense lawyers when they win their case.
Is it any wonder that Mumford got tased after Malheur trial..?
You're welcome, Frank, but I wasn't pointing out an error - I was pointing out that the WOTUS rule wasn't finalized until 2015, so how can it have any effect on plowing before it became a rule?
They were charged with violating the wotus rule that was in place in 2012, which is why I edited the text to remove 2015. See https://www.pacificlegal.org/document.doc?id=1000
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