United States v. John Hoyt Curtis

John Hoyt Curtis appeals his conviction for discharging a pollutant into the surface waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311 (a), 1319(c)(2)(A). He argues that the CWA does not apply to federal employees whose alleged violations occurred in the course of their employment. We reject the argument. Since Curtis is a “person” subject to the enforcement provisions of the CWA as defined in 33 U.S.C. §§ 1319 (c)(6), 1362(5), we affirm.

I.FACTS

John Hoyt Curtis was Fuels Division Director at Adak Naval Air Station in Alaska during the winter of 1988-89. In that capacity, Curtis managed several civilian employees who were responsible for storing and pumping various types of fuels used at Adak for generation of steam and electricity-

On September 21, 1991, Curtis was indicted on five counts of knowingly discharging a pollutant (jet fuel) into the surface waters of the United States in violation of sections 301(a) and 309(c)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (Clean Water Act), codified at 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311 (a) and 1319(c)(1).

Specifically, the government charged that on 41 separate occasions between October 1988 and…