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United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224 (1966)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224 (1966)
United States v. Standard Oil Co. No. 291 Argued January 25, 1966 Decided May 23, 1966 384 U.S. 224
APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Syllabus
Appellant was indicted for discharging gasoline into navigable waters in violation of the proscription in § 13 of the Rivers and Harbors Act against discharge therein of "any refuse matter of any kind or description." The District Court dismissed the indictment on the ground that "refuse matter" does not include commercially valuable material.
Held: the discharge of commercially valuable gasoline into navigable waters is encompassed by § 13 of the Act. Pp. 225-230. Pp. 225-230.
(a) Petroleum products, whether useable or not, when discharged into navigable waters constitute a menace to navigation and pollute rivers and harbors. P. 226.
(b) The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 was a consolidation of prior acts which enumerated various pollutants and impediments to navigation, drawing no distinction between valuable and valueless substances; the term "refuse matter" in the present Act is a shorthand substitute for the exhaustive list of substances found in the earlier Acts. Pp. 226-229.
(c) The word "refuse" includes all foreign substances and pollutants except, as provided in § 13, those "flowing from streets and sewers and passing therefrom in a liquid state" into the watercourse. P. 230.
Reversed.
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Chicago:
U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224 (1966) in 384 U.S. 224 Original Sources, accessed July 30, 2025, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Y8LMHBUZLUU7F8Y.
MLA:
U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224 (1966), in 384 U.S. 224, Original Sources. 30 Jul. 2025. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Y8LMHBUZLUU7F8Y.
Harvard:
U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in United States v. Standard Oil Co., 384 U.S. 224 (1966). cited in 1966, 384 U.S. 224. Original Sources, retrieved 30 July 2025, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=Y8LMHBUZLUU7F8Y.
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