LISTEN: Justice Alito Fired Up in Case Pitting Property Owners Against EPA

ABC ^ | January 17, 2012 | Ariane de Vogue

[WilliamIII]

Justice Samuel Alito seemed none too pleased last week with the government’s argument in a case pitting property owners against the Environmental Protection Agency.

Four years ago, Mike and Chantell Sackett bought property to build their dream home near a lake in Idaho. After obtaining local permits the Sacketts began work, pouring in some land fill. But their work came to a screeching halt when they were visited by officials from the Environmental Protection Agency. The couple was slapped with a compliance order asserting that the land is subject to the Clean Water Act and that they had illegally placed fill material into protected wetlands on their property.

A violation of the compliance order could cost the Sacketts tens of thousands of fines per day. They sought to challenge the EPA’s finding in court, but were told that that they needed to go through a permitting process first, and only after the EPA moved to enforce the order could they seek judicial review.

[xzins]

Any idea where Alito stands on Kelo?

[TheOldLady]

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[WilliamIII]

did they know it was wetlands when they bought it?

Who said it’s wetlands? The EPA, maybe, but the Sacketts contest that.

[hinckley buzzard]

The Great Plains, otherwise known as The Breadbasket of America, is not drained swamps, it is irrigated desert. Much of the Midwest including Ohio is not former swampland but former forest.

California's Imperial Valley, a cornucopia of agricultural plenty, is also an irrigated desert btw.

[Aunt Polgara]

did they know it was wetlands when they bought it? maybe they should have fully inspect the land they bought and checked it out better before buying. It looks like they bought a money pit.

If I remember correctly, their lot is surrounded by other homes which had been there for years, a few houses from the lake. There was a link awhile back to an overhead of the property.

Here's a pic of them on their property. Look like wetlands to you?

Here's another view:

[OneWingedShark]

>>It wouldn’t surprise me if the EPA continues to try to schtick the $75K/day fines under the old law, but they’ll be forced to remedy their processes which will help others in the future.

But what of the 8th Amendment?

[Sacajaweau]

Have had many fights with these people.

They even called "wetland" right where a house had stood for over 100 years alongside a multi acre peach farm. They're nuts!!

[BuckeyeTexan]

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[okie01]

did they know it was wetlands when they bought it? maybe they should have fully inspect the land they bought and checked it out better before buying. It looks like they bought a money pit.

The Sacketts were in possession of a building permit issued by the local municipality.

But that overlooks the larger question. Why should an agency of the federal government have any authority over property located in -- and administered by -- a small town in Idaho?