United States v. Esso Standard Oil Company of Puerto Rico

OPINION OF THE COURT

Esso Standard Oil Company of Puerto Rico (hereinafter “Esso”) was convicted on two charges of the offense of discharging refuse into navigable waters in violation of § 13 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, 33 U.S.C.A. § 407 (1957), and was fined $1,000 for each violation. The trial judge, sitting without a jury, found that on two occasions, Esso had caused liquid petroleum products to be' spilled upon its land, that these products flowed over the ground into the ocean, and that such conduct violated § 13. Esso urged that its conduct was not within the acts proscribed by § 13,…