E*V
发帖数: 17544 | 1 In America, even the rain belong to the government!!!!!
Gary Harrington of Oregon Jailed for Illegal Rainwater Reservoirs on His
Property
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/08/13/gary-harrington-of-or
An Eagle Point, Ore., man has begun serving a 30-day jail sentence after he
built three reservoirs on his property to collect rainwater -- an apparent
violation of a state law that says all water is publicly owned.
Gary Harrington (pictured above) has collected nearly 13 million gallons of
water in his reservoirs (one of which is pictured below). That's enough to
fill 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. But two weeks ago, he was found guilty
of breaking the 1925 Oregon law against private water collection. He was
sentenced to 30 days in jail and issued a $1,500 fine.
Oregon's Water Resources Department said that though it is legal to set up
rainwater collection barrels on roofs or other artificial surfaces,
Harrington's reservoirs go way beyond that and required permits.
"Mr. Harrington has operated these three reservoirs in flagrant violation of
Oregon law for more than a decade," the department's deputy director, Tom
Paul, told the Medford Mail Tribune.
The state initially approved permits for Harrington's reservoirs in 2003,
but reversed its decision.
"They issued me my permits. I had my permits in hand and they retracted them
just arbitrarily, basically," Harrington told CNSNews.com. "They took them
back and said, 'No, you can't have them.' So I've been fighting it ever
since."
Harrington has been ordered to drain his three reservoirs, something that he
vows to continue fighting. He said that he is only using the rainwater for
personal use and fire suppression and that the state is infringing on his
rights.
"The government is bullying," he told CNSNews.com. "They've just gotten to
be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes
them bigger bullies."
Harrington has set up a website, www.empoweringthejury.org, to appeal to the
public for support. The site includes videos defending his reservoirs and a
petition that asks for signatures and donations.
But that doesn't sway state officials.
"What we're after is compliance with Oregon water law, regardless of what
the public thinks of Mr. Harrington," Paul told the Mail Tribune. |
|
