273 F. 503 | 3rd Cir. | 1921
The Warner-Quinlan Company, a corporation of New Jersey, was indicted under the Act of Congress of June 29, 1888, c. 496, § 1, 25 Stat. 209 (section 9933, United States Compiled Statutes), which provides that:
“The placing, discharging, or depositing, by any process or in any manner, of refuse, dirt, ashes, cinders, mud, sand, dredgings, sludge, acid or any other matter of any kind, other than that flowing from streets, sewers, and passing therefrom in a liquid state, in the tidal waters of the harbor of New York, or its adjacent or tributary waters, or in those of Long Island Sound, within*504 the limits which shall be prescribed by the supervisor of the harbor, Is hereby strictly forbidden, and every such act is made a misdemeanor,” etc.
The indictment charges:
“That on or about the 24th day of August, 1920, and some time prior thereto and up to the present time, the Warner-Quinlan Company did discharge a large quantity of tar and asphalt in the tidal waters of the harbor of New York and its adjacent tributary waters, * * * as prescribed by the supervisor of the harbor.”
The defendant company is engaged in operating-a large asphalt plant at Tremley Point, in Union county, N. J., from which, the evidence tends to show, certain matter was discharged into the water of the harbor of New York adjacent to the plant of the defendant company through a ditch and a pipe running from the plant. There was evidence also tending to show that oil seeped through the marsh on which the plant was located, and that oil reached the waters of the har•bor because of a defective oil separator tank.
In order to sustain the conviction, it is necessary that the evidence show, first, that the supervisor, in pursuance of the statute, had prescribed limits in the tidal waters of the harbor of New York or its adjacent or tributary waters; and, second, that the defendant had, at or within the time or times specified in the indictment, placed, discharged, or deposited by some process or in some manner some of the forbidden matter within those prescribed limits.
“An act to prevent obstructive and injurious deposits within the harbor and adjacent waters of New York City,” etc.
“On the northwest side of the plant there was a stream of this fuel matter coming through a ditch and into the Kills.”
The matter came from the defendant’s plant, into the waters of the Arthur Kill, and into the waters of the harbor of New York. John T. O’Mara said: “I found oil flowing through this creek, to the Kills, continually.” He further said, in describing matter that came from defendant’s plant: “Sometimes it gets solid. It is 2 inches thick on the dock.” “Sludge” is specifically mentioned in the act, and is defined by the Standard Dictionary as:
“Kefuse, acid, or alkali from the refining of petroleum; muddy or pasty refuse of various kinds; slime of ores; the plate covering an opening in a 'boiler for removal of sediment; also, the sediment.”
This matter which came from the defendant’s plant sometimes became solid and settled as a sediment. If it continued to be discharged or placed in the waters of the harbor without restriction, it would in time obstruct and injure the harbor. Masters of boats would naturally and ordinarily object to entering waters covered with oil and tar. These would surely prove injurious to the harbor, if not actually obstructive. We think the evidence establishes that the matter coming from the defendant’s plant would he both obstructive and injurious to the harbor, and included in that general class of matter forbidden
The judgment of the District Court will therefore be affirmed.