FARGO — Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency has a most-wanted fugitives section on its website?

One person who was listed as wanted was Alessandro Giordano of California. One of his alleged violations was illegally importing automobiles from Italy that did not meet the EPA’s emission standards.

I understand that there are people out there who choose to make bad decisions that harm the environment. These people do warrant investigation and prosecution if deliberate acts of wrong doing are proven.

My question is, where does the EPA draw the line? Could a person who deliberately throws a compact fluorescent light bulb into the trash be prosecuted for illegally disposing of a device that has trace amounts of mercury in it?

How about the employees of the Minnkota Power and Basin Electric Power cooperatives? According to the EPA, North Dakota’s State Implementation Plan for regional haze rules doesn’t go far enough in removing nitrous oxide from the two plants’ pollution. Many articles have called on various state governors to rebuff the EPA’s apparent abuse of power.

Unfortunately, the EPA is in a position to have anyone who rebuffs them brought to justice by their Criminal Investigation Division.

I call upon North Dakotans to write their elected officials and demand that they tell the EPA to immediately stop its bullying tactics. The EPA is merely an agency of the federal government, and the agents’ salaries are paid by taxpayers.

Dan Pind

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