A decade-plus-long fight over potentially hazardous levels of fecal bacteria in a scenic Sweetwater River tributary may be closer to ending — at least on paper — if a Wyoming proposal to reclassify the stream and change regulatory thresholds goes through.

At issue is Lander Creek, a small stream along the southwest tip of the Wind River Range that has seen on-again, off-again environmental impairment listings for a strain of intestinal bacteria that can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and stomach pains when ingested. The waterway’s noncompliance with the Clean Water Act directly traces to Cora-based environmental activist Jonathan Ratner, who in 2010 submitted water quality samples that led to its initial impairment.

Reached Monday in India while convalescing from a bike wreck, Ratner s

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