Belmont31R
01-11-12, 17:40
This is one of the biggest disgraces Ive read about in modern times. This couple buys a lot to build a house on, zoned residential, gets all the permits, and then the EPA claims its "wetlands" and orders the Sacketts to return the land to "wetlands" which is never was, plant plants that were never there, and then put up a fence around the property. WTF?
To top it off they accumulated over 40 million dollars in fines, and if Ive heard right the number could top 100 million before the case is even settled later this year.
To top it off the EPA is arguing the Sacketts should not be able to challenge their "rulings" in court!
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in an Idaho couple's challenge to an EPA wetlands enforcement action in a case that could have far reaching impacts for agriculture.
Mike and Chantell Sackett argue they should be allowed to sue the EPA before they have to comply with an agency order to restore wetlands on their Idaho property. The government says they must comply at a cost of more than $27,000 and seek after-the-fact judicial review, or pay at least a $37,500-a-day fine.
Justices at both extremes of the court seemed to suggest the Sacketts may not have exhausted their legal remedies, but also that EPA should not have a blanket exemption from any judicial review of compliance orders. Sackett's attorney Damien Schiff called it a David and Goliath case.
http://farmfutures.com/story.aspx/lawsuit-against-epa-impact-agriculture-17/56340
Whatever happened to:
...and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
...nor excessive fines imposed,...
If the Federal government wants the land to be wetlands they should buy it, and then pay for it themselves. Going to court is a right. 40 million in fines right now, and the EPA could take it to 100 million which less than 1/10th of 1 percent of our population could afford.
Another case, the EPA is fining refineries for not using a fuel that does not exist outside of certain laboratories: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/epa-penalizes-refiners-for-failing-to-use-fuel-that-does-not-exist/
Until this agency is several gutted, and stripped of most of its regulatory power its going to continue to represent one of the most oppressive and totalitarian tools of the government.
To top it off they accumulated over 40 million dollars in fines, and if Ive heard right the number could top 100 million before the case is even settled later this year.
To top it off the EPA is arguing the Sacketts should not be able to challenge their "rulings" in court!
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in an Idaho couple's challenge to an EPA wetlands enforcement action in a case that could have far reaching impacts for agriculture.
Mike and Chantell Sackett argue they should be allowed to sue the EPA before they have to comply with an agency order to restore wetlands on their Idaho property. The government says they must comply at a cost of more than $27,000 and seek after-the-fact judicial review, or pay at least a $37,500-a-day fine.
Justices at both extremes of the court seemed to suggest the Sacketts may not have exhausted their legal remedies, but also that EPA should not have a blanket exemption from any judicial review of compliance orders. Sackett's attorney Damien Schiff called it a David and Goliath case.
http://farmfutures.com/story.aspx/lawsuit-against-epa-impact-agriculture-17/56340
Whatever happened to:
...and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
...nor excessive fines imposed,...
If the Federal government wants the land to be wetlands they should buy it, and then pay for it themselves. Going to court is a right. 40 million in fines right now, and the EPA could take it to 100 million which less than 1/10th of 1 percent of our population could afford.
Another case, the EPA is fining refineries for not using a fuel that does not exist outside of certain laboratories: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/epa-penalizes-refiners-for-failing-to-use-fuel-that-does-not-exist/
Until this agency is several gutted, and stripped of most of its regulatory power its going to continue to represent one of the most oppressive and totalitarian tools of the government.