United States v. Rutherford Oil Corporation

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION

LEE H. ROSENTHAL, District Judge.

This is an action under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1811, 1344, and the Rivers and Harbors Act (“RHA”), 33 U.S.C. § 403. The United States seeks injunctive relief and civil penalties for what it alleges are five separate instances of illegal “prop washing” in East Galveston Bay between February 2003 and August 2004. “Prop washing” occurs when vessels are operated in shallow water, causing the propellers or the bottoms to disturb the bed and to redeposit the soil and other materials into other areas. The United States alleges…