Water Grab

Water Grab

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have continually tested the jurisdictional limits of the CWA over the last 40-plus years by issuing guidance documents and regulatory enforcement actions based on ever-broader interpretations of “waters of the U.S.” In an extraordinary conversation with Gov. Otter, his clarity of thinking holds these agencies accountable for their power grabbing techniques. “Cook County, Illinois decision, I tell you guys to go look up that case, the Supreme Court ruled on January 19, 2001, that the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had overstepped their jurisdiction on navigable waters of the United States. Cook County had dug a gravel pit in order to build their highways and bridges. Later on they wanted to make it a solid waste disposal. In the meantime and because Chicago is in the middle of the international flyway between Mexico and Canada, birds flew into that lake that was sub water and created a wetland if you will. The Supreme Court ruled in that case, that unless there is a surface nexus meaning water that flows from a river or lake Michigan or something like that directly on the surface into that gravel pit, then it was not navigable waters of the United States government so I can guarantee you that that is probably one that is going to end up in the Supreme Court again and they are going to have to re-visit Cook County, Illinois versus the federal government.
Previous ReportGoathead Help
Next ReportVirtual Library