This will make you cringe: Wheat farmer faces millions in fines

In June, 2016, I described a Clean Water Act (CWA) case involving a California wheat farmer. A U.S. District Court found John Duarte chisel plowed pasture lands which were considered to be vernal pools even though the pools seldom have water in them. The Court determined his vernal pools were wetlands or waters of the United States. See where this is going? After a year-long delay, the penalty phase of the case against Duarte starts on August 14th. For chisel plowing alleged wetlands, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) are seeking $2.8 million in fines and approximately $30 million to buy wetlands which would mitigate the alleged damage created by Mr. Duarte. He claims “It (450 acres of pasture land) was farmed for wheat many times before, and the permit they wanted me to get had never been issued to a farmer before”