John Marshall Harlan II

“ United States, supra, is not, in my opinion, the 'decisive' authority which the Court finds it to be, either as to the question whether a violation has taken place or as to whether injunctive relief would be authorized under the present circumstances, given a violation of the Act. The United States in that case had originally sought an injunction against the construction of the Calumet-Sag channel and later against the diversion thereby of water from Lake Michigan in excess of the amount authorized by the Secretary of War. ”

“ These comprise a small fraction of 1% of the total solution and the most damaging of them are too small to be seen under a microscope. One need not be an expert to say that the refuse discharged by an ordinary sewer pipe today, and a fortiori 60 years ago, undoubtedly contains far more solid matter in suspension than respondents' discharges. And the statute affords no basis for differentiating, as the Court suggests, between industrial and domestic refuse.
Even if a violation of § 10 or § 13 could be established, injunctive relief would not be authorized. ”

“ Section 12, 33 U.S.C. § 406, 33 U.S.C.A. § 406, provides that violation of § 9, § 10, or § 11 (the last [3] not being material here) constitutes a misdemeanor, and that removal of any 'structures or parts of structures' erected in violation of said sections may be enforced by injunction. ”

“ There was no discussion in the reports or debates of the meaning of the exception.↑ In 1900, only 4% of the urban population having sewage facilities provided any treatment at all for domestic and trade wastes. ”