Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 103 Series 1, Quality of Water, 6 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOG~CAL !SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR 

A REVIEW 

OF THE 

LAWS FORBIDDING 

POLLlJTION OF INLAND WATERS 

IN THE UNITED STATES 

BY 

EDWIN B. GOODELL 

WASHINGTON 

G 0 V E R N M KN T P R I N T I N G 0 F F I C E 

1904 

CONTENTS. 

Letter of transmittaL _____ _ 

Water pollution under the common law __ 

Principles and decisions ____________________________ ... ______ _ 

Classification _ _ _ _ _ . _ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________ _ 

A. Rights of riparian owners to pure water as against one another_ 

Case in exception _ _ _ _ ___________________ . __ . _ _ _ _______ _ 

Opinion of Vice-Chancellor Pitney of New Jersey __________ . _. 

Missouri v. Illinois et al _ _ _ _ ___________ . _____ _ 

B. Rights of the public (as distinguished from individual owners) 

to have inland waters kept free from pollution _ _ _ ______ .... 

C. Conditions under which, and extent to which, public municipalities may use inland waters in disposing of sewage from public sewers _____________ ._ .. __ . ___________ .. ___ . ___________________ . 

Citations of cases _ . _____ . _ . _. _ _ _ _________ . ____ . 

Excerpts from important decisions ____ . __ ... ____ . ___ . _. ______ _ 

Statutory restrictions of water pollution. __ . __________ . __________ _ 

Classification _ _ _ _ _ .. _ _ _ . _____________ _ 

Class I: States with partial restrictions~. _______________________ _ 

!~~~:~a::::::::::::: :I::::::::::::::::::::::::_::::::::::_::_:-:: 

Delaware _________________ . ________________ .. ____________________ .. 

~~o~:~:::: ~: -_::::::::I::::::::::::::::~::::::::::::::::-:~::::::: Idaho ______________________________________________________ · ___ _ 

Iowa __________ _ 

Kentucky ______ . 

Louisiana_ . __ . 

Michigan ___ . __ _ 

Mississippi. ____ _ 

Nebraska ______ _ 

North Dakota __ _ 

Oklahoma _ _ _ 

Pennsylvania _____________ . ____________ . __ . ____ . _ .. ________ . ____ _ 

Rhode Island ___________________________ . __________ .. ___________ _ 

Wisconsin_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _________________________ _ 

Class II: States with general restrictions _____________ ~ ______________ . 

California _ _ ______ • ____________________________________________ _ 

Colorado ____________ . ________________ . ___ . _ _ . _______ . __________ _ 

Illinois _________ . ________________ . ________________ _ 

Indiana _______________ . ______________________ . ____ _ 

Maine _ _ _ _ _ _________________ _ 

Maryland __ . _________ . ___ . ______________ . _______________________ _ 

MissouriL ____ . __ .. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____________ _ 

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4 CONTENTS. 

Statutory restrictions of water pollution-Continued. 

Class II: States with general restrictions-Continued. 

Nevada __________ . _____ , ________________ ·- _ · ______________________ _ 

·New Mexico ________________ -.- _________ . ________________________ _ 

North Carolina __________ . _________ . ____________________________ _ 

Ohio. _____________________________ c _______ .- _____________________ _ 

Oregon __ ,--- _______________________________ · ____________________ _ 

South Dakota _______________ . ____________________ . _ . ______ c __ • __ , · 

Tennessee ________________ . ____________ . __ . ____________ ... _ . ____ _ 

Texas _______ --· _______ ------------------------.-·----------------- Utah . _______________________________________ • ___ ~ ______________ _ 

Virginia __________________________________________ c _. ___ • ________ _ 

Washington _________ ---- _____________ -.--- ____________ ------------- West Virginia _______________________________________________ ... __ 

Wyoming ____ . ______ ·_ _ _ _ ______________________________________ _ 

Class III: States with severe restrictions __________________________ .. __ Connecticut ___________________________________________ . ________ _ 

Massachusetts _ , _ . _____________________ . __________ . ____________ : _ 

Minnesota _______ .· ___________________________ · __________________ . _ 

New Hampshire _________ ~ ___________ . __ .. _. _______ . _____________ . 

New Jersey ___ ~ ____ · _____________ . _______________________________ _ 

New York __ .. _____ . __ : __________________________________________ _ 

Vermont ___ . _____________________ , ________________________ . _____ _ 

General rules ______________________________ -----··------------- ___________ _ 

Rights and duties of riparian owners ____________________________ ~ ___ _ 

Rights and duties of municipal corporations ___________ . __________ . __ _ 

Rights and duties of the public __________ · ____________________________ _ 

Public rights and duties enforced by statute _________ . ____ : ______ - ___ _ Progress of legislation ___________________________________ ~ ______ _ Index ___________________________________________________ ~ _______________ _ 

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 

DEPARTMENT. OF THE INTERIOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

HYDROGRAPHIC BRANCH, 

Washington, D. 0., lJ!arch 1, i904. 

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled 

''A Review of the Laws Forbidding Pollution of Inland Waters of the 

United States," prepared by Edwin B. Goodell, and to request that it 

. be published as a water-supply and irrigation paper. 

One of the important features involved in the determination of the 

water SUJ:lplies of the United States and the preparation of reports 

upon the best methods of utilizing water resources is the character of 

those supplies. In the more populous sections of the country the 

quality of water is d.ependent to a large degree upon the amount and 

character of the pollution which is allowed to discharge into the 

streams. Therefore it has been found desirable to study different 

State laws regulating and controlling this matter and •to determine 

the scope of the work to a large degree according to them. 

Mr. Goodell has presented the subject of antipollution laws in a 

manner which will be of assistance to public officials, water companies, manufacturers, farmers, and legislators, rather than to members 

of the bench and bar. The broad legal principles under which antipollution statutes become operative are explained and important 

court decisions are quot~d to show authority for various deductions. 

The statutes enacted in the different States are classified according to 

the general scope, and an opportunity is thereby afforded to compare 

their effectiveness and desirability. In short, the paper provides 

specific information necessary to a popular knowledg_e of the conditions in each State with respect to one feature of the conservation of 

natural water resources. Its distribution should be of material assistance in bringing about a general apprehension of correct principles 

upon the subject. 

Very respectfully, F. H. NEWELL, 

Chief Engineer. 

Ron. CHARLES D. WALCOTT, 

Director United States Geological Survey. 

5 

A REVIEW OF THE LAWS FORBIDDING POLLUTION OF 

INLAND WATERS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

By EDWIN B. GOODELL. 

This subject naturally divides into two parts, the first being a summary of the common law upon the subject of water pollution-i.e., 

the law as pronounced and determined by the courts hidependently 

of legislative action-and the second being a summary or abstract of 

the statutes enacted by the various legislatures aimed at the correction of the evil. 

W.A.TER POLLUTION UNDER THE COMMON L.A.W. 

The full treatment of this branch of the subject involves the examination of the very numerous decisions which have been rendered by 

the courts in England and the United States in the determination of 

litigations arising from alleged violations of the right to have inlimd 

waters preserved in their natural state. It necessarily follows that a 

full treatment of this branch of the subject would be beyond the 

scope of this article. It is not the purpose of the present publication 

to furnish a complete work upon water pollution for the use of members· of the bench and bar, but rather to put into the hands of public 

officials and others who may be interested in the subject a guide for 

their action and references to the sources from which a more exhaustive knowledge of the subject may be obtained if required. 

J ro attempt, accordingly, will be here made to present a detailed 

statement of the entire law against water pollution as it exists independently of statutes, but this branch of the subject will be confined 

to a statement of the general principles which are to be deduced from 

the decisions, with references to some of the leading cases which 

establish those principles in the several jurisdictions of the courts 

rendering the decisions. 

PRINCIPLES AND DECISIONS. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

These principles and decisions have been classified and are presented in the following groups: 

A. The rights of riparian owners to pure water as against one 

another. 

7 
8 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W .ATER POLLUTION • [No.lOO. 

. B. The rights of the public (as distinguished from individual owners) to have inland waters kept free from pollution by riparian owners 

or othl;lrs. 

C. The conditions under which, and the ·extent to which, public 

municipalities may use inland waters in disposing of sewage matter 

from public sewers. 

A. RIGHTS OF RIPARIAN OWNERS TO PURE WATER AS AGAINST ONE 

ANOTHER. 

In contemplation of law the water flowing over the land is part of 

the realty and belongs to the owner of the soil. But the latter's ownership thereof is a qualified one. He may use it in certain ways as it 

passes, may take from it for his own use to a certain extent, and may · 

thus, incidentally, somewhat diminish its volume and slightly alter its 

character. But its nature is to pass on to the owners of the adjoining soil, and the next owner has precisely the same rights therein as 

every other owner. It follows, therefore, that as no riparian owner 

of a stream may appropriate all the water which comes to him, neither 

may he so corrupt or pollute it as to injure the other owners by diminishing the value of their property in the natural stream. This prohibition is independent of any statute; it is a part of the law of the land. 

This conflict of rights between the several owners has given rise to 

litigation in many hundreds of instances, and it is impossible to give 

a rule limiting the owner's right to use the water of a stream as it 

passes more exact than this: Every owner may make such use of the 

water for farming and domestic purposes as is reasonable, and the 

lower owners must accept the slight diminution and perturbation of 

the water which necessarily follows from this reasonable use. 

If the use for farming or domestic purposes is challenged by another 

owner, the question ofits reasonableness, in that case, is to be determined by court or jury as a question of fact. · 

If the water is used for any other than farming or domestic purposes, it must be such a use as will not change the character of the 

water from its natural state or make it less useful to other owners. 

If the riparian owner cast sewage, filth, or waste material therein, 

he does it at his peril. 

Independent of statutory provisions there is a remedy for these 

wrongs in the following ways: 

By private suit against the wrongdoer for damages. 

By injunction when the wrong is a continuing one. 

By indictment when the injury affects the rights of the public. 

Where the acts causing the pollutio~ are done in one jurisdiction 

and the injuries suffered are in another, the injured party has his 

remedy in a civil action to the same extent as if the injurious act and 

the resulting injury were in the same jurisdiction. 
GOODELL.] RESTRICTIONS OF COMMON LAW. 9 

These general principles will be found to be fully sustained by the 

cases. The following are given, not as an exhaustive list, but to 

enable the reader to find authorities if his needs require: 

Alabama: 

Drake v. Iron Co., 14 So. Rep., 749. 

Tenn. Coal Co. v. Hamilton, 14 So. Rep., 167. 

Lewis v. Stein, 16 Ala., 214. 

Arkansas: 

State v. Chapin, 17 Ark., 561. 

California: 

Potter v. Froment et al., 47 Cal .. 165. 

People v. Elk Riv. Mill and Lumber Co., 107 Cal.,214; S.C. 40 Pac. Rep.,486. 

Mining Co. v. Mining Co., 48 Pac. Rep., 828. 

Colorado: · 

City of Durango v. Chapman, 60 Pac. Rep., 635. 

Connecticut: 

Morgan v. Danbury, 67 Conn., 484. 

Nolan v. New Britain, 69 Conn., 668. 

Georgia: 

Satterfield v. Rowan, 83 Ga., 187; S.C. 9 S. E. Rep., 677. 

Indiana: 

Muncie Pulp Co. v. Martin, 55 N. E. Rep., 796. 

State v. Herring (Ind. 1897), 48 N. E. Rep., 598. 

State v. Wabash Paper Co., 48 N. E. Rep., 653. 

Iowa: 

Ferguson v. Mfg. Co., 77 Ia., 576; S.C. 42 N. W. Rep., 448. 

Kentucky: 

Kinnaird v. Oil Co. (Ky.), 12S. W. Rep., 937. 

Maryland: 

Baltimore v. Warren Mfg. Co., 59 Md;, 96. 

Price v. Lawson, 74Md., 499. 

Massachusetts: 

Ball v. Nye, 99 Mass .. 582. 

Martin v. Gleason, 139 Mass., 183. 

Merrifield v. Lombard, 13 Allen, 16. 

Woodward v. Worcester, 121 Mass., 245. 

Dwight Printing Co. v. Boston, 122 Mass., 583. 

McGenness v. Adriatic Mills, 116,Mass., 177. 

Minnesota: 

Roller Mills v. Wright, 30 Minn., 254. 

Missis~ippi: 

Mississippi Mills v. Smith, 69Miss., 299; S. C. 11 So. Rep., 26. 

Missouri: 

Smith v. Conathy, 11 Mo., 517. 

New Hampshire: 

Hayes'!!. Waldron, 44 N.H., 580. 

New Jersey: 

Holsman v. Boiling Spring Co., 1 McCart., 335. 

Acquackanonk Water Co. v. Watson, 2 Stew. Eq., 366. 

Beach v. Sterling Iron and Zinc Co., 9 Dick., 65. 

Same case affirmed on appeal, 10 Dick., 824. 

(See the opinion of Pitney, V. C., in the last cited case, given in full below· 
10 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. 

New York: 

O'Riley v. McChesney, 3 Lans., 278. 

Covert v. Cranford, 141 N.Y., 521. 

Townsend v. Bell, 24 N. Y~ S., (70 Hun., 557) 193. 

Smith v. Cranford, 32 N.Y. S., 375. 

Ohio: 

[No. lOS. 

The Columbus, etc., Co. v. Tucker, 48 Ohio St., 41; S.C. 26 N. E. Rep., 630. 

Thayer v. Brooks, 17 Ohio, 489. 

Pennsylvania: 

Elder v. Lykens Valley Coal Co., 157 Pa. St., 490. 

Hindson v. Markle, 171 Pa. St., 138. 

Stevenson v. Ebervale Coal Co., 201 Pa. St., 112. 

Rhode Island: 

Stillman v. Mfg. Co., 3 W. & M. (R. 1.), 546. 

Richmond Mfg. Co. v. Atlantic DeLaine Co., 10 R. 1., 106. 

South Carolina: 

Threatt v. Mining Co. (S.C. 1897), 26 S. E. Rep., 970. 

Vermont: 

Snow v. Parsons, 28 Vt., 459. 

Canfield v. Andrew, 54 Vt., 1. 

Wisconsin:· 

Middlestadb v. Starch Co. (Wis.), 66 N. W. Rep., 713. 

Hazeltine v. Case, 46 Wis., 391. 

Greene v. Nunnemacher, 36 Wis., 50. 

Wyoming: 

Howell v. Johnson, 89 Fed. Rep., 556. 

English: 

Mason v. Hill, 5 B. & Ad., 1. 

Embry v. Owen, 6 Exch., 353. 

Wood v. Wand, 3 Exch., 748. 

Bealey v. Shaw, 6 East., 208. 

CASE IN EXCEPTION. 

A single case in Pennsylvania seems to create an exception to the 

operation of the principJes above stated, viz, Sanderson v. Pennsylvania Coal Company, 113 Pa. St., 126. 

This was a case brought by a riparian owner who had established a 

home on the banks of a stream, after ascertaining, by a careful investigation, that its waters were uncontaminated. by any influx of deleterious matter, and who used the waters of the stream for domestic 

purposes. Subsequently a coal mine was opened higher up the 

stream, and the mining company, in the course of its mining operations, pumped the water from the mine to the surface, where it ran 

into this stream and rendered the water unfit for domestic use. The 

case was bitterly contested, and came before the court several times. 

(See 86 Pa. St.,· 401; 94 Pa. St., 303, and 102 Pa. St., 370.} 

In the final decision the court refused damages to the riparian owner. 

The reasoning of the court indicates that this result was due to its 

unwillingness to impose upon the immense coal-mining "interests of 

the State the burden of paying for the damage to property in the 
GOODELL.] RESTRICTIONS OF' COMMON LAW. 11 

water of streams caused by its operations; but the reason given for 

the decision, in the court's attempt to harmonize it with the principles 

firmly established by precedent in Pennsylvania, was that the water 

which the defendant conducted into the stream was contaminated 

only. by the coal, which was a natural product, and hence was said to 

be conducted into the stream in its "natural state." This reasoning 

is specious, since the presence of coal in the brook was due wholly to 

the operations of the defendant company, the stream in its natural 

state showing no trace of coal, and the doctrine thus established for 

Pennsylvania has not found favor in any other jurisdiction. 

But in subsequent decisions the courts of Pennsylvania have been 

careful not to extend the force of Sanderson v. Pennsylvania Coal Co. 

beyond the single act of turning the natural drainage from a mine 

into a stream. (See Elder v. Lykens Valley Coal Co., 157. Pa. St., 

490; Hindson v. Markle, 171 Pa. St., 138, and Stevenson v. Ebervale 

Coal Co., 201 Pa. St., 112.) 

OJ;'INION OF VIOE-OH:ANCELLOR PITNEY, OF NEW JERSEY. 

The whole subject was thoroughly treated in Beach v. Sterling Iron 

and Zinc Company, 9 Dick. (N.J.), 65. 

This was an action for an injunction, brought by the manufacturers 

of a white tissue paper against a mining company, the water from 

whose mines was pumped into the stream above the paper works and 

befouled the water, making it unfit for the purposes of the complainant. The opinion gives a careful and most lucid and interesting 

review of the course of decisions sustaining and enforcing the rights 

of riparian owners upon streams above tide water to have the water 

in the stream maintained in its natural condition. The decision of 

the court in this case was affirmed by the court of errors and appeals 

(10 Dick., 824) upon the opinion of the court below, which is given 

here in full: 

The material facts of the case are undisputed. The only dispute is as to the 

degree of discoloration caused by the defendant's operations and the length of 

time over which such discoloration extended. 

The facts clearly established are as follows: 

The Wallkill River rises in the southern part of Sussex County and flows upon 

a course of nearly north, passing through the villages of Franklin and Hamburg. 

At the latter place is situated an artificial pond, called the Furnace Pond, caused 

by an old dam, upon which, for several years, has been a paper mill driven by the 

waters of the river from that pond. The complainant Beach purchased this 

water power and lands connected with it in the summer of 1891, for the purpose 

of erecting a plant for the manufacture of what is known as white tissue paper. 

Associated with him were two gentlemen by the name of Sparks, who had previously been engaged in the business of waxing white tissue paper according to a 

process which they controlled, and the project was to both manufacture and wax, 

for market, white tissue paper. For that purpose the corporation was formed, of 

which Mr. Beach and the Messrs. Sparks were stockholders, and the latter were 

the active managers. A large amount of money was spent in erecting a plant 
12 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No. 103. 

between the date of the purchase and the 1st of February, 1892, when they commenced the manufacture of. white tissue paper and carried it on with success for 

about a year. · 

The manufacture of such paper requires a perfectly clear, pure water, and before 

purchasing the Hamburg water power the complainants inspected the stream and 

inquired as to its character for clearness, and satisfied themselves that they would 

be able to use it for making white tissue paper without incurring the expense of 

filtration, and their experience for a year proved that their expectations were just. 

In the month of February, 1893, complaints began to come in from the purchasers of their paper that ·it was deteriorating in the matter of whiteness,. and 

they investigated the cause. The pond was frozen over, but they knew by repu~ 

tation that mining operations were being carried on ·at Gr.eenspot by the defendant, and they went there March 1 and found a stream of highly colored water 

flowing from the defendant's mir).e shaft into the river, traced its effect in discoloration to their pond, and by subsequent _observations by themseives and others 

in the neighborhood traced its effect r.ot only in and through the Furnace Pond, 

but for miles down the river to the north of Hamburg. In fact, several respe<;Jtable and credible witnesses, called by the complainants, testified to the discoloration 

of the water in the Furnace pond and beyond, and the complainants were stopped 

by the court from producing further evidence on that subject in the opening of 

their case. Several witnesses called by the defendant, among them its superintendent, corroborated this evidence, and there is no attempt to meet it. 

The color was a peculiar reddish-yellow tint, which was in marked contrast 

witli. the discoloration due. to the ordinary road and field wash after a heavy storm 

or spring thaw. 

This peculiar discoloration continued. throughout the month of March and, 

with some intermissions and variations in degree of discoloration, through the. 

month of April Complainants early in March were obliged to stop the making 

of white tissue paper. Negotiations between the parties for some arrangement of 

the matter failing, the bill was filed on the 21st of April, 1893. 

The immediate origin of the discoloration was as follows: The defendant corporation was organized by two gentlemen by the name of Heckscher and two by 

the name of Wetherill for the purpose of reaching and working a bed of- frankUnite ore which had been located by boring exploration at a depth of about a 

thousand feet below the surface near this point called Greenspot. It was the 

continuation of a s~am of ore for many years worked to the southwest of Greenspot by two companies, one of which-viz, the Lehigh Zinc and Iron Companywas owned and controlled by the Heckschers and Wetherills. In the spring or 

early summer of 1891 the defendant commenced to sink a perpendicular shaft, 

known as the "Parker shaft," 10 by 20 feet in diameter, and after passing through 

a small amount of superincumbent earth struck solid limestone rock. It continued the working without cessation. until August 11, 1892, when, having attained 

a depth of 560 feet (many feet lower than the bed of the Wallkill), the workmen 

struck a water-bearing fissure or rent in the' rock, which instantly fl.ocded the 

mine and drove them out. Previous to that time they had encountered small. 

seams_ or fissures from· time to time, producing a little water and som.etimes a 

little mud, which they pumped up, of course, carried through a trough or trunk 

several hundred feet westerly toward the Wallkill till it reached a small spring 

run, where it was discharged, and from thence it ran into the Wallkill. The 

amount of water up to August was small and its discoloration was slight, so that 

it was not felt or observed by complainants. The influx in August, 1892, was 

discolored by a fine clay, amounting almost to a pigment, having a high reddishyellow tint and intermixed with a small quantity of very fine sand. This water 

rose to within 40 feet of the surface, and resisted all attempts to lower it by the 
GOODELL.] RESTRICTIONS OF COMMON L.A. W. 13 

pumps then in use and until very large and heavy pumps were introduced. This 

was done in September. After the shaft filled with water there was no further 

movement; it became perfectly quiet, and the clay and sand began to settle, so 

that the water in the upper reach of the shaft became comparatively clear. The 

first water that was discharged after heavy pumping commenced came from near 

the top and was but slightly discolored, such discoloration being due to the disturbance of the clay and sand which had settled on the timbering of the shaft. 

The quantity of water struck in the fissure was so great that with these powerful 

pumps very slow advance was made, the pumps being lowered from time to time, 

and the greater the depth attained the less rapid the advance and the greater the 

discoloration. 

On about the 1st of January, 1893, the water was reduced to a depth of 420 feet 

from the surface, and a delay there occurred of about three weeks, caused by the 

necessity of establishing a pumping station at that point. When the rapid pumping commenced again, at or near the 1st of February, the discharge was much 

discolored, and continued growing worse and worse until the bottom was reached, 

and there, without detailing the circumstances, the greatest discoloration was 

reached, and continued during the month of March. The discoloring clay is so 

very fine in its texture that a very slight movement of particles of water with 

which it comes in contact will thoroughly mix it, and ·it will only subside in perfectly still water. This accounts for the fact that it did not fully subside in passing through complainants' pond, which is quite narrow, so that it is probable that 

the volume of the water of the Wallkill causes continued motion throughout its 

length. 

After the shaft had been entirely pumped out and the volume of water stored 

in the fissure had been entirely exhausted and the flow reduced to the natural 

supply of the fissure, and the various water channels which had been created 

throughout it by the sudden drawing off of the water had arrived at what the 

experts 0all an ''angle of repose," so that no further scouring resulted from the 

flow of the ordinary quantity of water, there was no discoloration and the water 

ran clear. This condition was, as claimed by the defendant, reached some time 

in the summer of 1893, and the case shows that from about the middle of April or 

the 1st of :l\Iay till about the middle of July the discolorations were temporary 

and increasingly infrequent, and usually the result of clearing out the different 

settling basins, called" sinks," which had been established in the rock at different 

points in the shaft. Since that time the shaft has been sunk over 200 feet without 

finding any more water or fissures. 

The proof is clear that the result of the contribution of this discolored water to 

the waters of the river was to render the mixture when it reached complainants 

mill unfit, without filtration, for use in making white paper. 

An ingenious experiment was made by an expert, as follows: He ascertained, 

by a rough measurement, that the flow of the river was about forty times that of 

the output from the mine, and he 'took a jar of perfectly clear water and mixed 

with it one-fortieth of its quantity of the dirty water that came from the mine, 

and exhibited the sample to show to what a slight extent it was discolored. 

The dirty water which he used had been confined in a jar for Eeveral months, 

with the result that the fine particles of clay had partially coagulated and gathered into little flakes, and when shaken up did not produce the same degree of 

discoloration as exhibited when freshly taken from the running stream. But 

even that experiment showed that the result of so slight a mixture made the 

whole mass palpably roilly. In point of fact, as shown by the evidence of the 

expert paper makers, a very small admixture of mud or clay will render the 

water improper, without filtration, for making white tissue paper; and the effect 

of that evidence is that the river in its ordinary clea; state is no clearer than is 
14 LAWS l<'ORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

necessary for that purpose. A very small admixture of coloring or dirty matter 

renders it unfit for use. 

Several matters are urged in defense to this case. First, but faintly, that the 

doctrine finally established by a bare majority of a dividal court in Pennsylvania, in Sanderson v. The Coal Company (86 Pa. St., 401; 94 Pa. St., 303; 102 Pa. 

St., 370, and 113 Pa. St., 126), should be adopted here. The history of that case, in 

its various phases, is given by a writer in the American Law Register (n. s.), 

vol. 1, p. 1 (1894). It was an action, as here, by a riparian proprietor against a 

mining company for polluting a natural stream with water pumped from its 

mine. After three decisions by the supreme court of Pennsylvania in favor of 

the plaintiff's right, that court finally held the contrary and affirmed the right of 

the coal company to discharge its acid mine water into the creek, without regard 

to its effect upon lands below, upon the broad ground that the necessities of the 

mining interests of the Commonwealth required it. This result was attributed 

by the author of the· article in the American Law Regij!ter(pp. 5, 18), in part, to 

a lack of care on the part of the learned judge who prepared the first prevailing 

opinion (86 Pa. St. 406). The doctrine of that case is shown by that writer to be 

inharmonious with a long line of previous decisions in Pennsylvania, and has not 

been, so far as I can learn, followed in any other State-certainly not in this 

State. It was repudiated in Ohio, whose mining interests are quit9 large, in the 

recent and well-considered case of The Columbus, etc., Co. v. Tucker (48 Ohio St., 

41). I refer particularly to the lucid expressions of the learned judge found on 

·pages 58 and 62. 

It was not suggested on the argument that the doctrine ever had the least foothold in this State. No case of a stream fouled by mining . operations has indeed 

ever. so far as I know, been presented to our courts, but the right of a riparian 

proprietor to have the waters of the stream come to him unchanged in quality, 

as well as undiminished in quantity, has been determined in the clearest and 

most positive manner. In fact, the doctrine stated so tersely by Chancellor 

Kent in Gardner v. Newburgh (2 Johns Ch., 162, at p. 166)-"A right to a stream 

of water is as sacred as a right to the soil over which it flows. It is a part of the 

freehold "-has always been adhered to by our courts. I need refer only to 

Holsman v. Boiling Spring Co. (1 McCart., 335), and Acquackanonk Water Co. v. 

Watson (2 Stew. Eq., 366). In the last case the right was stated by the learned 

master in an extremely clear and comprehensive manner, and the decree advised 

by him was unanimously affirmed on appeal, for the reasons by him given. 

The facts of that case are, in a manner, analogous to those here under consideration. Watson owned and operated a bleachery which required for use 

clear and pure water, which he obtained from a small stream running through · 

his land. The water company, desiring to supply the city of Passaic with potable water, proposed to take this small stream above the bleachery and substitute for it an equal or greater quantity of Passaic River water, drawn from the 

Dundee Canal and used to drive its pumps. This the court restrained, on the 

ground that the substituted water was not of equal purity with that abstracted. 

There is a line of cases of pollution by mine water in England which sustains 

the general doctrine. Hodgkinson v. Ennor (4 Best and S., 229), was the case, as 

here, of a paper maker against a miner who had permitted dirty washings of lead 

ores to run through rents, called" swallets," in limestone rock into a subterraneous 

stream, rende:ring the water, which in its course came to plaintiff's paper mill, 

unfit for use in the manufacture of paper, and the action was sustained by Chief 

Justice Cockburn and Justices Blackburn and Mellor. 

Magor v. Chadwick (11 Ad. and E., 571) was a suit by a brewer against a miner. 

Pennington v. The Brinsop Coal Co. (L. R., 5 Ch. Div. 769) (1877) was a suit by 

a manufacturer against a c~al miner, where the only allegation of injury was that 
GOODELL.} REST.RICTIONS OF COMMON L.A W. 15 

the acid contributed· to the water from the mine rendered it less fit for use in the 

engine boilers driving the machinery of the plaintiff's mill. An injunction was 

allowed. Defendant relied, without success, upon the ground taken in Sanderson 

v. The Coal Co., supra, that the acid could not be removed from the water; that 

there was no means of remedying the evil, and an injunction would absolutely stop 

its work. The learned judge (Fry) refused even to exercise the right given by 

the English statute to give damages instead of an injunction, relying on Clowes 

v. Staffordshire Waterworks (L. R., 8 Ch. App., 125) (1873), and he declared that 

he would have granted the injunction, although the present damage was only 

nominal, because of the injury to the riparian rights of the plaintiff, and such is 

the doctrine of the case relied on, which was a suit by a silk dyeing and washing 

establishment against a water-works company for rendering the water coming to 

their works leEs clear and pure. 

The English cases, dealing with polution by mine water, culminated in the case 

of Young v. Bankier (L. R., App. Cas., 691) (1893) ,in theHouseofLords, on appeal 

from Scotland. The case was argued, elaborately, of course, before six law lords, 

whose unanimous judgments were delivered after consideration. The riparian 

proprietor (Bankier), the plaintiff there, was a distiller, and used the water of the 

stream in his distilling process, presumably for making mash, for which it was 

peculiarly fit by reason of its softness. The added mine water did not render it 

unfit for ordinary purposes-there called primary purposes-but by reason of its 

hardness rendered it less fit for distilling purposes. Sanderson 1•. The Coal Co. 

was cited, but the court repudiated its d?ctrine and was unanimous in judgment 

in favor of the respondent, who was the plaintiff aml had judgment below. Lord 

Macnaghten, at page 699, says: "Then the appellant urged (precisely as does the 

. defendant here) that working coal was the natural and proper use of their minoral property. They said they could not continue to work unless they were permitted to discharge the water which accumulates in their mine, and they added 

that this water course is the natural and proper channel to carry off the surplus 

water of the district. All that may be very true, but in this country, at any rate, 

it is not permissible in such a case for a man to use his own property so as to injure 

the property of his neighbor.'' 

There are numerous English cases 1,1pon the general right of a riparian proprietor to have the waters of his stream come to him in its natural condition, of which 

I cite Crossley v. Lightowler (L. R., 3 Eq. Cas., 279; 2 Chan. App., 478) (1867); 

Attorney-General v. Lunatic Asylum (L. R., 4 Ch. App., 145) (1868). Numerous 

other cases will be found cited in Gould, Waters, section 219, and in Higg. Pol. 

Waterc., 132, et seq. 

The argument was advanced by the defendant that the use of the defendant's 

property for mining purposes is what was termed, unfortunately, I think, by Lord 

Cairns, in Fletcher v. Rylands (L. R., 3 H. L., 330, at pp. 338, 339) (1868), a natural user, and similar in that respect to plowing a field, and that if it be unlawful 

for defendant here to cast into the stream the muddy waters from its mine it is 

also unlawful for the farmer to plow his land and allow the muddy water which 

runs from it after a heavy rain to reach the river. But the very statement of the 

two cases shows the absence of analogy between them. In the first place, the 

water from the plowed field comes thereon by natural causes beyond the farmer's 

control and runs by gravity to the stream, while in the case of the mine the water 

is, as here, found and raised by artificial means from a level far below that of the 

river and would never reach it but for the act of the miner, and in the second. 

place, by the common law of the land every owner may cultivate his land without 

regard to its effects upon his neighbor, while such is not the law as to mining. 

The supreme court of Ohio, in Columbus Company v. Taylor (48 Ohio, 41, at p. 

58), repudiates the notion that mining was a natural use of the land in the sense 

that farming is. 
16 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [N0.103. 

The ground of a reasonable natural user seems to be at the bottom of what was . 

said in :Merrifield v. Worcester (110 :Mass., 216) upon this topic. So far as the 

expressions there used favor the notion that a city or town may collect and discharge sewage matter into a fresh-water stream to the injury of a riparian owner 

without liability to action they are contrary to the law as held in England for 

centuries. See Higg. Pol. Waterc., 127, et seq., where several cases besides these 

above cited are collected. · · . 

Equally untenable is· another position advanced by the defendant, viz, that the 

river was always more or less polluted by contributions from other mines and 

from the washing of plowed fields, public roads, and railroad embankments. 

Such insistments have been frequently made and always overruled. The ques- · 

tion in such cases seems to be whether the stream has already become so far 

polluted by contributors· who have acquired a right so to do by adverse use or 

otherwise as that the pollution presently opposed will not sensibly alter its condition. And even in such a case .the courts have held that the party has the right 

to deal with each contributor in detail and to buy off such contributors as have 

acquired a right, and is not obliged to submit to fresh contributors. I cite the 

following authorities: Ross t·. 'Butler (4 C. E. Gr., 294, at p. 306); AttorneyGeneral v. Steward (5 C. E. Gr., ·415, at p. 419), where the learned chancellor 

says: " The defendants have no right to pollute or corrupt the waters of the 

creek, or if they are already partially·polluted to render them more so;" to Cleveland v. The Gas Co. (5 C. E. Gr., 201,atp. 208); and tol\!Ieigsv. Lister (8C. E. Gr., 

199, at p. 205), where the learned chancellor says: "The position taken by counsel 

that the complain11nts were entitled to no relief from this nuisance because the 

locality was surrounded by other nuisances and dedicated to such purposes has 

no foundation in law or in fact. If there were several nuisances of the like 

nature surrounding them, they must seek relief from each separately. They can 

not be JOined in one suit nor need the suits proceed pap passu. 

In Crossley v. Lightowler (L. R., 2 Ch. App., 478, p. 481, 1867) Lord Chelmsford says: " But the defendants contend that the plaintiffs have no right to 

complain of any pollution of the Hebble occasioned by them, because there are 

many either manufacturers who pour polluting matter into the stream above the 

plaintiffs' works, so that 'they never could have the water in a fit state for use 

even if the defendants altogether ceased to foul it.. The case of St. Helen's Smelting Co. v. Tipping (11 H. L., Ch., 642, 11 Jur., N. S., 785), is, however, an answer 

to this defense. Where there are many existing nuisances, either to the air or to 

water, it may be very difficult to trace to its source the injury occasioneq by any 

one of them; but if the defendants add to the former foUl state of the water and 

yet are not to be responsible on account of its previous condition, this consequence 

would follow that if the plaintiffs were to make terms with the other polluters of 

the stream so as to have water free from impurities produced by their works, the 

defendants might say, 'We began to foUl the stream at a time when, as against you, 

· it was lawful for us to do so, inasmuch as it was ·unfit for your use, and you can not 

now, by getting rid of the existing p::>llutions from other sources, prevent our continuing to do what, at the time when we began, you had no right to object to.' '' 

(Attorney-General v. Lunatic Asylum, 4 Ch. App., 145, p. 150, report of the 

expert, and p. 155.) 

In Attorney-General v. Leeds (L. R., 5 Ch. App., 583, p. 595, 1870) the lord 

chancellor says: ''1 think the argument deduced from the foul state of the 

water before it gets (o Leeds is not deserving of any weight for two reasons: 

First-and it is hardly disputed-the evil· did become seriously aggravated when 

the new sewer was opened-that ~s to say, sixteen or seventeen years ago; and, secondly, the nuisance might terminate; and no one can say it was right that when 

one nuisance terminates there shoUld be another brought into existence." 
GOODELL.] RESTRICTIONS OF COMMON L.A W. 17 

The sensible and material increase in the discoloration of the water, in this case 

resulting from the contribution of the defendant's mine, is clearly proved. Th€! 

complainant was able to make white paper successfully and satisfactorily from February 1, 1892, for nearly a year, and until the serious discharge of discolored water 

from the defendant's shaft, in January, 1893; and they werealso able to make such 

paper after the discolored water ceased to run, in June or July, 1893. During the 

intermediate period, while the discoloration of the water being discharged from 

the defendant's mine was the greatest, complainant could not make white parer 

satisfactorily. 

In whatever point of view the complainant's case is considered it seems entirely 

clear and free from doubt. I can not think the least doubt is cast upon the law by 

the last decision in the Sanderson case, in Pennsylvania, and the facts of the case 

are substantially undisputed. The complainants' title and possession of the ripa, 

though put in issue by the .answer, is established by the proofs and was finally 

admitted at the hearing. Their right to have the. water come to them in its 

natural condition follows inevitably. (Holsman v. Boiling Spring Co., 1 McCart., 

335, at p. 343, bottom, and cases there cited.) The learned chancellor there says: 

" Where the complainant seeks protection in the enjoyment of a natural watercourse upon his land, the right will ordinarily be regarded as clear. .And the 

mere fact that the defendant denies the right by his answer or sets up title in 

himself by adverse user will not entitle him to an issue before the allowance of an 

injunction." 

There can be no doubt that, upon the facts presented, it would be the duty of a 

judge to direct a verdict, and the rule adopted by the court of errors and appeals 

in Higgins v. The Water Co. (9 Stew. Eq.,538) applies. I refer to the language of 

the chief justice on page 544 et seq. 

The jurisdiction of this court to adopt, on final hearing, the extreme remedy of 

an injunction in this class of cases, when the right is clear, is well established, 

not only by the case just cited, but by Acquackanonk Water Co. v. Watson, 

supra, which was decided by the court of errors and appeals, and by Holsman v. 

Boiling Spring Co., supra, decided by Chancellor Green, and by Shields v. Arndt (3 

Gr. Ch., 234), and by Carlisle v. Cooper (6 C. E. Gr., 576). 

It was suggested that in this case no injunction should be ordered, but that the 

compla1nants should be left to their action at law for damages. I am unable to 

adopt that view. It must now be considered as settled law in this State that the 

maintenance of a nuisance of the kind here in question is, in effect, a taking of 

property. Pennsylvania Railroad Co. v. Angel (14 Stew. Eq., 316, p. 329), 

where Judge Dixon, speaking for the court of errors and appeals, says:" This 

principle rests upon the express terms of the Constitution. In declaring that 

private property shall not be taken without recompense, that instrument secures 

to owners not only the possession of property, but also those rights which render 

possession valuable. Whether you flood the farmer's fields so that they can not 

be cultivated, or pollute the bleacher's stream so that his fabrics are stained, or 

fill one's dwelling with smells and noise so that it can not be occupied in comfort, 

you equally take away the owner's property. In neither instance has the owner 

any less of material things than he had before, but in each case the utility of his 

property has been impaired by a direct invasion of the bounds of his private 

dominion. This is the taking of his property in a constitutional sense. Of course, 

mere statutory authority will not avail for such an interference with private 

property. This doctrine has been frequently enforced in our courts," and he 

proceeds to cite previous authorities in the same court. If this b.e so, then the 

legislature has no power to authorize the maintenance of a nuisance for the promotion of private objects, even upon terms of making compensation; for no 

lRR 103-04-2 
18 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. 

l 

authority is ne9essary for the position that the legislature is powerless to enact a;, 

law declaring that defendant may have complainants' mill and water power upon~ 

terms of paying them what a court may ascertain it is worth. And I am unable 

to distinguish such action and that of leaving complainants to the remedy of 

repeated actions at law to recover damages as often as they are suffered. In this 

respect our system of laws varies from that of England, where Parliament is 

omnipotent and is not confined to the mere making of laws-the true function of 

a legislature-but may take private property for private purposes, with or without 

making compensation, the only restraint upon its power being its own innate sense 

of justice. Hence the English courts are authorized, in cases of certain nuisance.'O:.. 

to give damagEs once for all instead of an injunction. 

The result of my consideration of the subject is that there is no principle which 

will sustain a court of equity in refusing an injunction against the mainilenance 

of ail established continuing nuisance. and leaving the injured party to his remedy 

at law. To do so is, in effect, to permit a party to take his neighbor's lmad fm 

his own use upon terms of making such compensation as a jury shall assess.. This 

is inadmissible. 1 

The object and office of a verdict and judgment at law is to establish th~ right 

and give coml?ensation for past injuries. The right being once made dkar~. 

whether by ju,dgment at law or upon incontrovertible rules of law and well-est~t'fv 

lished. facts, the remedy in equity by injunction to prevent future injury is a 

matter of right, and the relief can not be refused. 

The ground, however, mainly relied upon by defendant is that the proofs show 

that the nuioance has entirely abated and that there is no danger of its recurrence, 

and hence an injunction is unnecessary and improper. 

At about the time the injunction was issued-July 17, 1893-defendant purchased a small tract of land skirting the railroad, between the shaft and the river, 

and established on it a settling basin, into which the mine water was turned and 

given opportunity for subsidence before reaching the river. The result was that 

it was substantially clear, and no further injury has been since felt at the paper 

mill. It is also in proof that from that time up to July, 1894, the water was; 

usually clear when it came from the mine. At the sessions of December 27 an:dl 

December 28, 1893, Professor Nason, a competent geologist and mining expe.rt,. 

testified that, in his opinion, no further clay and water-bearing seams or rent& 

would be met in the course of defendant's mining operations, and that the rent 

which had given so much trouble had, by natural causes, become harmless. It 

was not suggested that all or any large proportion of the discolored clay deposit had 

been removed, but the theory was that the descending water had worn channels 

in the clay, resulting in little rivulets centering at the section by the shaft, and 

that the scouring power of the water-that is, its power to bring down clay-had 

ceased by reason of the clay banks and beds of the little rivulets having arrivei!T. 

at an "ang:e of repose." The stability of this state of affairs depends, ofcourse, 

upon the uniformity of the flow of water, both as to quantity and source of infl.ow, 

and Profess· r Nason, on cross-examination, admitted some uncertainty in this 

respect: After his examination and the close of the evidence on both sides, and 

before the argument, viz, about July 16, 1894, an unexpected influx of muddy 

water occurred, due to an overflow from a flume carrying water from the neighboring mine of the Lehigh Zinc and Iron Company, which found its way into the 

seam or rent at a point where it came to the surface, about 1,800 feet from theo 

Parker (defendant's) shaft. This opening was a surface fissure or swallet in 

the rock-quite common where limestone rocks come to the surface. In this·. 

case, as I understand Professor Nason, he did not suppose or infer, from the trend 

of the fissure, that it reached the surface in that neighborhood, but such was the 

fact. It was promptly stopped by defendant and filled up, so as to prevent a:r;1y 

more water getting in at that point. 
GOODEJ,L.} RESTRICTIONS OF COMMON L.A W. 19 

Now, it seems to me that this occurrence shows the impossibility of affirming 

that there will be no further incursions of muddy water. It is true that with the 

corttinued use of the settling ground no injury will probably result to complainants from such an irruption. I say "probably," because, in case of a sudden 

irruption of discolored water, the quantity might be so great as to overwork the 

present settling basin. But without a decree and injunction the defendant will 

be at liberty to discontinue its use and permit any muddy water that may appear 

to flow into the Furnace Pond as of old. 

At the time the complainants filed their bill the injury was seriou 1 and continuous. The defendant positively declined to stop it, but claimed the right to continue it. To complainants' bill was interposed a general denial, and setting up a 

right to persist in the injury as long as its necessities required. On all these issues 

the defendant is beaten. The complainants have established their case, and it 

would seem to be a most lame and impotent conclusion to refuse to give them the 

very relief prayed for, viz, a perpetual injunction. I am unable to imagine any 

other decree in their favor which would adequately meet the case and give them 

the just fruits of'their suit; and, surely, if there is no danger of further discoloration the injunction will do the defendant no harm, but will be of value as a muniment of title to the complainants' property. The language of Lord Justice Turner, 

in Goldsmid v. Tunbridge Wells Commissioners (L. R., 1 Ch., App., 349, p. 355), 

applies: "In this particular case I think that regard must be had not merely to 

the comfort or convenience of the occupier of the estate, which may only be interfered with temporarily and in a partial degree, but that regard must also' be had 

to the effect of the nuisance upon the value of the estate and upon the prospect 

of dealing with it to advantage; and I can not but think that the value of this 

estate, and the prospect of advantageously dealing with it, is and will be affected 

by the continuance of this nuisance." 

But the defendant further urges that the complainants have manifested a disposition to make an unreasonably harsh and oppressive use of their rights in the 

premises, and have thereby weakened their standing in equity and disentitled 

them to the extreme decree asked for. 

In the month of March, 1893, while the outflow from the mine was at its worst, 

negotiations took place between the parties for some sort of settlement, and a filter was mentioned. The complainants offered to be satisfied if defendant would 

furnish them with a filter of proper size, which they said, and about which there 

is no dispute, would cost $5,000. The defendant offered to pay one-half of the 

expense of the filter, the same to be in full compensation for all damages up to 

the time it was furnished, which offer the complainants refused to accept. I can 

see nothing harsh or oppressive in that refusal. 

Next, and after bill filed, as I now recollect, defendant made an arrangement 

with the tenant of a gristmill, located upon a little stream which empties into the 

Furnace Pond, for a right to divert water from the mill and carry it by a flume 

several hundred feet down to the complainants' works and furnish them with 

clear water f:rom that stream. Complainants employed an expert to examine the 

stream and see whether it would supply sufficient water for their paper engines, 

with the result that they were informed and believed that it was not sufficient, 

and declined to accept it as a substitute for the river Witter. The defendant, 

nevertheless, in the face of complainants' refusal, built the flume-a mere wooden 

trough, set upon benches and trestles-along the surface of the ground down to 

the mill yard of the complainants. The complainants refused to allow it to be 

put across their mill yard, because it would prevent them from having access to 

their works and from free passage with carts and wagons from one part to the 

other, and said that anything of that kind must be put underground in iron pipes. 

But the radical difficulty with that movement on the part of the defendant was 
20 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. (NO.l03. 

that the right to the use of the water was merely obtained temporarily from a 

mere tenant of the mill property, and did not give the complainants any permanent right to the flow of the stream, even if it had been large enough for their 

purposes. I can see nothing harsh or oppressive in complainants' action in refusing this offer of substitution. They not only had the strict right in law to refu~e 

t:> accept them; but their conduct in so doing, in my judgment, was not inequitable. 

I shall advise a decree establishing the complainants' right to the flow of the 

stream in its natural condition and an injunction with costs. 

MISSOURI V. ILLINOIS ET AL. 

Where an injurious act in one State is so far-reaching in its injurious consequences as to threaten the rights of property and the health 

of a large number of citizens in another State, the latter State may 

become a party complainant in the Supreme Court of the United States 

to enforce the legal remedies of its citizens for such injuries. (Missouri v. Illinois et al. (U. S. Supreme Court, October term, 1900), 180 

u. s., 208.) 

This was a case in which the State of Missouri sued to restrain the 

State of Illinois and the Sanitary District of Chicago from carrying 

the sewage of Chicago through an artificial channel to the Mississippi 

River. The right of the State of Missouri to protect its citizens by 

this action and to implead the State of Illinois as a party defendant 

and to have an injunction against the defendants in case the facts 

alleged in its bill should be established was upheld by a divided court 

in overruling a demurrer to the bill. The defendants have answered, 

but at the time of the present writing the final hearing has not been 

reached. 

B. RIGHTS OF THE PUBLIC (AS DISTINGUISHED FROM INDIVIDUAL 

OWNERS) TO HAVE INLAND WATERS KEPT FREE FROM POLLUTION 

BY RIPARIAN OWNERS OR OTHERS. 

Whenever the pollution of a stream or other body of water injuriously affects the health or materially interferes with the peace and 

comfort of a large and i.ndefinite number of people in the neighborhood, such pollution becomes what is known as a public nuisance. 

But, except under such circumstances, the public, as such, has no 

standing to prevent the pollution of waters. When, however, there 

is a public or quasi-public ownership of the banks of a stream, as in 

the case of a source of water supply owned by a municipality or 

owned by a company which supplies the inhabitants of a municipality with water, the public is interested in the enforcement of the 

rights of riparian proprietors as stated under heading "A." 

Where there is a public nuisance caused by the pollution of water, 

it is the duty of public authorities to cause its abatement, and their 

right to do so has been sustained in numerous cases. Where the 

public is injured in its capacity of riparian owner the remedy is 
GOODELl;..] RESTRICTIONS OF COMMON LAW. 21 

either by injunction or by criminal proceedings, according to the 

nature of the wrong and the laws and practice of the jurisdiction in 

which the offem!e occurs. 

The following are cases in which the pollution of water has been 

held to be a public nuisance: 

Board of Health v. Casey, 3 N.Y. S., 399. 

People v. Elk River :Mill and Lumber Company, 107 Cal., 214. 

State v. Taylor, 29 fud., 517. 

Greene v. Nunnemacher, 36 Wis., 50. 

C. CONDITIONS t:!:NDER WHICH, .AND EXTENT TO WIDCH, PUBLIC 

MUNICIPALITIES MAY USE INLAND WATERS IN DISPOSING OF SEWAGE 

FROM PUBLIC SEWERS. 

This subject has but recently been receiving attention from the · 

courts. It seems to have been the custom of municipalities to discharge their sewers freely into the larger streams, and until within 

the last few years but little, if any, objection to the practice has 

found its way into the courts. Latterly the increase of population, 

with the consequent increase of the amount of sewage matter so discharged, has brought about a condition of affairs that has produced 

opposition and in many cases litigation. The principles established 

by the decisions thus made necessary are briefly summarized as 

follows: 

Municipalities, if riparian owners, have the same rights and are 

subject to the same restrictions in the use and treatment of the water 

flowing over their lands as private owners are-i.e., they·may deposit 

sewage and other filth in such waters, provided always that by so 

doing they cause no injury to· property below them. Where munic.ipalities are expressly authorized by statute to construct a system of 

sewerage, and to cause the sewage matter to be discharged into any 

particular waters, the statutory authority is to be exercised subject 

to the implied C()ndition that such discharge will not co.nstitute a 

nuisance. Legislative authority can go no flurther than to authorize 

municipalities to acquire the rights of lower owners by purchase or 

condemnation, because of the constitutional restriction against taking 

private property for public use without just compensation. · 

It will thus be seen that the increase of population under the 

present conditions and 'with the now prevalent methods of sewage 

disposal in cities is rapidly leading to a condition of affairs which will 

call for radical changes. Many cities will find themselves unable to 

dispose of their sewage matter by means of rivers without enormous 

expense, and probably not without, additional legislation. As will be 

seen hereafter, the subject is already receiving serious attention from 

legislators. 
22 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [No. lOS. 

CITATION OF CASES. 

The following cases will be found to sustain the general principles 

above stated: 

English: 

Goldsmid v. Tunbridge Wells Imp. Com., L. R., 1 Chan. App., 349. 

Holt v. Rochdale,"L. R., 10 Eq. Cases, 354. 

Attorney-General v. Leeds, L, R., 5 Chan. App., 583. 

Attorney-General v. Richmond, L. R., 2 Eq. Cases, 306. 

Attorney~General v. Hackney Local Board, L. R., 20 Eq. Cases, 626. 

Attorney-General v. Cockermouth Local Board, L. R.-, 18 Eq. Cases, 172. 

Attorney-General v. Luton Local Board, 2 Jurist, 180. 

Attorney-General v. Halifax, 39 L. J. (N. S.), 129. 

North Staffordshire R. R. Co. v. Tunstall Local Board, 39 L. J., Chan., 131. · 

Attorney-General v. Kingston on Thames, 34 L. J., 481. 

Attorney-General v. Basingstoke, 45 J.,. J. (N. S.), 726. 

Attorney-General v. Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, L. R., 4th Ch. Div., 146. 

Attorney-General v. Birmingham, 4 Kay & Johns., 528. 

Attorney-General v. Metropolitan Board of Works, 1 H. & M., 298. 

Bidder"'· Croyden Local Board, 6 L. T., 778. 

Manchester, etc., Railway Co. v. Worksop Board of Health, 23 Beav., 198. 

Oldaker v. Hunt, 6 De Gex, MeN. & G., 376. · 

California: 

People v. City of San Luis Obispo, 116 Cal., 617. 

Peterson v. City of Santa Rosa, 51 Pac. (Cal.), 557. 

Connecticut: 

Morgan v. Danbury, 67 Conn., 484. 

Nolan v. New Britain, 69 Conn., 668. 

(See extracts from opinions in the Conn. cases given below.) 

Georgia: ' · 

Columbia Av. Savings Fund, etc., Co. v. Prison Commission of Georgia, 92 

Fed. Rep., 801 (Cir. Ct. West Div. Ga., 1899). 

Tilinois: 

Village of Dwight v. Hayes, 150 Til., 273. 

Robb v. Village of La Grang~ (1895), 158 Til., 21. 

Barrett v. Cemetery Assn., 159 Til., 385. 

Iowa: 

Randolf v. Town of Bloomfield, 77 Ia., 50. 

Loughran v. City of Des Moines, 72 Ia., 382; S.C. 34 N. W. Rep., 172. 

Kansas: 

Topeka Water Supply Co. v. City of"Potwin, 43 Kan., 404. 

Massachusetts: 

Bainard v. Newton (Mass. Sup.); 27 N. E. Rep., 995, and 154 Mass., 255. 

Morse v. Worcester, 139 Mass., 389. 

Boston Rolling Mills v. Cambridge, 117 Mass., 396. 

Haskell v. New Bedford, 108 Mass., 208. 

Woodward v. Worcester, 121 Mass., 245. 

Middlesex Co. v. Lowell, 149 Mass., 509. 

Missouri: 

The Joplin Consolidated Mining Co. v. City of Joplin, 124 Mo., 129. 

New Hampshire: 

Vale Mills v. Nashua, 63 N. H., 136. 

. ... -,)-' 
GOODELL.] RESTRIOTIONS OF COMMON LAW. 

New Jersey: 

Sayre v. Newark, 42At., 1068, and 58 N.J. Eq., 136. 

Doremus v. Paterson, 63 N.J. Eq., 605. 

State v. Freeholders of Bergen, 1 Dick., 173. 

23 

Atty. Gen. v. City of Paterson, 45 Atl. (N.J., 1900), 995; 60 N.J. Eq., 385. 

New York: 

Butler v. Village of Edgewater, 6 N.Y. S., 174. 

Chapman v. City of Rochester, 110 N. Y., 273. 

Pennsylvania: 

Good v. Altoona City, 162 Pa. St., 493. 

EXCERPTS FROM IMPORTANT DECISIONS. 

In Owens v. Lancaster City (182 Pa. St., 257, ancl193 Pa. St., 436) the 

right of a city to use a stream passing through it as an open sewer, 

subject only to liability for any injury clone to adjoining property 

through its negligence, seems to be conceded. 

As to the limits of this right, and the consequences for which the 

municipality would be liable in the State of Pennsylvania, see the 

following cases: 

The city was held lia;ble for injury clone to plaintiff's wharf by 

deposits from a sewer, in Butcher's Ice and Coal Company v. Philadelphia. (156 Pa. St., 54.) 

It was held liable to a lot owner for maintaining a sewer mouth upon 

his lot, in Harris v. City. (155 Pa. St., 76.) 

It was held liable for destroying the value of wells, caused by the 

flowing of polluted river water into them by unaergrouncl passages, 

in Goocl1'. Altoona.· (162 Pa. St., 493.) 

It was held liable for damages caused by accumulations of filth, 

ashes, or other material, that obstruct the flow of the water and throw 

it out upon the lands of adjoining owners, in Blizzard v. The Burough 

of Danville. (175 Pa., 479.) 

In Owens v. Lancaster City (182 Pa. St., 257), at page 262, Mr. 

Justice Green remarks, obiter: "We apprehend the same principle 

would apply to the injury inflicted by allowing offensive and injurious 

odors and smells to issue from the polluting substances discharged 

into the stream from the city sewers." 

Nolan v. New Britain (69 Conn., 668) was an action for damages 

caused by the defendant's discharge of. its public sewers into a stream 

called Pipers Brook, which, ran through plaintiff's land. 

The city had, in 1872, under alleged legislative authority, condemned 

ancl·taken, and condemned the right to take, occupy, and appropriate 

Pipers Brook for sewer purposes, but plaintiff did not appear in the 

proceedings, nor was any award made to him. 

Significant excerpts from the supreme court's opinion, by Andrews, 

C. J., are here given: 

The use of Pipers Brook which the complainant charges that the defendant has 

made, unless there is a lawful warrant therefor, causes IJ, lJUblic nuisance. * * * 
24 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. rNo.103. 

That it would be a public nuisance to render the water of a stream so impure that 

it could not be used for domestic purposes or for watering cattle, and so that it 

gave off noxious and unhealthy odor11 is hardly open to question (Chapman v. 

Rochester, 110 N. Y., 273), for the reason that these causes wouldinjurio)lsly affect 

every riparian owner along the whole length of the stream and every person who 

lived near it .. If a municipal corporation, in the absence of a legal right to do so, 

causes sewage to pollute a water course, to the use of which a lower owner through 

whose premises the water course flows is entitled, it is guilty of a nuisance for 

which damages may be recovered. [Many authorities cited.] 

On page 681, after an examination of the alleged statutory authority, the opinion continues: 

If it had been the intent of the legislature by the act of 1872 to authorize the 

common council of the city of New Britain to take or to affect any lands outside 

of the city limits, it is certain there would have been in the act some provision for 

the ascertainment of damages to be paid to the landowner. The right of the 

plaintiff to have the water of Pipers Brook flow through his land as it had been 

accustomed to flow (i.e., pure and uncontaminated) is not an easement, but is 

inseparably annexed to the soil. (Wadsworth v. Tillotson, 15 Conn., 366, 373.) 

To deprive the plaintiff of that part of his soil for the purposes named in that act 

would be the taking of private property for public use, and the plaintiff would 

be entitled to have just compensation. 

As the complainant lived outside the city limits, it was held that he 

was in no way affected by the assessment proceedings. 

The other defenses amounted to a claim of right to such use of the 

stream by prescription. As to this defense the court says, at page 

683: 

The sixth defense presents the question of prescription. We have already indicated our opinion that the use of Pipers Brook, of which the plaintiff complains, 

is a public nuisance. We suppose the law to be so that a public nuisance can not 

be prescribed for. No length of time can legitimate, or enable a party to prescribe for, a public nuisance. (People v . .Cunningham, 1 Dedo., 524; Mills v. Hall, 

9Wend., 315; Veaziev. Dwinel,50Me., 479,490; Commonwealthv. Upton,6 Gray, 

471, 476; Wood on Nuisances, 722; 19 Am. and Eng. Encyc. of Law, 30.) When 

an action is brought by a party who has suffered a special injury in consequence 

of a public nuisance, a prescriptive right to do the acts complained of can not be 

maintained against him. (Bowen·v. Wendt, 103 Cal., 236; People 1·. Gold Run, 

etc., Mining Co., 66 Cal., 138; Boston Rolling Mills 1•. Cambridge, 117 Mass., 396; 

O'Brien v. St. Paul, 18 Minn., 176; Cooley on Torts, 614.) There is no occasion to 

discuss this defense further, because the defendant's counsel, in their brief 

expressly disclaim that any right can be obtained by prescription to commit such 

a nuisance 

In Morgan v. City of Danbury (67 Conn., 484) the question Of 

restraining a nity from polluting the water of a stream by sewage, at 

the suit of a mill owner below the city, was thoroughly discussed, 

and the injunction sustained. The opinion is written by Baldwin, J., 

and the important portions of it are as follows (p. 493): 

The nuisance thus complained of consisted, then, of discharging into a river, 

above the plaintiff's premises, certain substances of a kind and in such a manner 

that the water came to him polluted, and a deposit was made upon his land and 

in his mill pond, whereby noxious odors were created, dangerous to liis health and 
GOODELL.] RESrRICTIONS OF OOMYON LAW. 25 

that of others, his dam partly filled up by filth, and the use and value of his property largely taken away-injuries which the defendant intended to increase by 

enlarging its sewer system, and adding to the amount of the deposits made from 

the sewers in the river, the result of which would be to fill up his mill pond with 

filth and sewage, and make his property "valueless. 

These allegations were denied, but they have been found true, and there is 

nothing inconsistent with their truth in the special finding of facts. They stated 

that the deposits from the sewers both filled up the plaintiff's mill pond, and polluted the air he breathed and the waters that flowed over his property. These, 

though proceeding from the same act, produced separate injuries. A nuisance 

was created with a double aspect. That to the waters of the stream and the air 

above it it was found constituted a public nuisance,- though it was one which also 

wrought a special and peculiar injury to the plaintiff. That from filling up the 

mill pond constituted simply a private nuisance. (Haskell v. New Bedford, 108 

Mass., 208, 216; Braytonv. Fall River, 113 Mass.,218, 229.) · Itwasproperthatthe. 

injunction should be so framed as to protect the plaintiff against every serious and 

irreparable injury which he might suffer by the continuance of the nuisance, and 

its terms are fullly conformable to the claims stated in his complaint. 

The defendant contends that the decree is too broad, in that it restrains the discharge into the river of any sewage, even if not of a noxious or polluting character, or though entirely and permanently disinfected and purified. 

The primary meaning of " sewage " is that which passes through a sewer 

(Century _Dictionary; Webster's International Dictionary). A secondary meaning is derived from the usual charapter of the contents of a sewer, and as used in 

that sense the word signifies the refuse and foul matter, solid. or liquid, which it 

so carries off. · 

In the plaintiff's complaint the connection in which the term is employed is 

such as to indicate that it was intended to carry the secondary meaning. 

And further, at page 496: 

The defendant urges that it should not be made responsible for the acts of 

others, and that if its sewage is thoroughly disinfected, sterilized, and purified 

before its discharge into the river nothing further should be required, even 

though as it flows down the stream it may be brought into contact with other 

substances in such a way as to work a nuisance. But the right to deposit a thing 

in any place must always be dependent not only on its own nature but on the 

·nature of the place in question and the uses to which that has already been put. 

A lighted match may be safely thrown into a brook unde.r ordinary circumstances, 

but not should it happen to be covered with oil from a leaky tank. 

If different parties by several acts foul the same stream, each may be enjoined 

against the commission of the wrong with which he is individually chargeable. 

And see, also, Watsonv. Town of New Milford (72 Conn., 561); Platt 

Bros. & Co. v. Waterbury (72 Conn., 531); and note on "Rights of 

municipal corporations to drain sewage into waters," appended to a 

report of the last-named case in 48 Lawyers' Rep. Annotated, page 691. 

In Mayor, etc., ofBirmingh.am, v. Land (34So. Rep., 613), decided by 

the supreme court of Alabama in June, 1903, the Connecticut cases 

above cited were followed. Among other things the court, per 

McClellan, C. J., say: 

The fact that the city of Birmingham had statutory authorization to construct 

a sewer emptying into Valley Creek, upon the condemnation of lands taken or 

injured in its construction and use, is not of importance, since the lands here 
26 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLU'riON. [NO. 103. 

injured have not been condemned. The nuisance is none the less a nuisance because 

of the statutory power referred to, the right to exercise the power in respect of 

this land not having been acquired. City of Mansfield v. Balliett (65 Ohio St., 

451; 58 L. R. A., 628, and note.) 

See, to the same effect, Sammons v. City of Gloversville (67 N. "E.' 

Rep., 622), decided by the court of appeals of New York, June 9,1903. 

In this case an injunction was granted, its operation being suspended 

to enable the defendant to obtain legislative relief, or to abate the 

nuisance. 

In Middlesex Company v. Lowell (149 Mass., 509), decided in 1889, 

it was held that an injunction should be granted to restrain defendant from discharging sewage into plaintiff's mill pond, and that no 

right to do so could be acquired by prescription. 

This places Massachusetts in line with the other States, notwithstanding the decision, in Merrifield v. Worcester, that a city is not 

liable for damages caused by lawfully laying out and constructing 

and reasonably using a system of sewers in accordance with plans 

adopted by the proper corporate body, upon the principle t.hat such 

body acts quasi judicially in so adopting plans. 

In Butler v. Village of White Plains (69 N. Y. Supp., 193; N.Y. 

Snp. Court App. Div., 2d Dept., March, 1901), an injunction was 

granted against a nuisance caused by the deposit of the effi.uent of 

defendant's sewage in the Bronx River. The fact that others were 

polluting the stream was no defense. 

Grey, Attorney General, v. Paterson (13 Dick., 1; on appeal, 15 Dick., 

385), was an action brought by riparian owners below Paterson for an 

injunction restraining the city of Paterson from depositing or discharging its sewage through its drains or sewers into the Passaic 

River, and from constructing new sewers to discharge into said river, 

and from enlarging or increasing its present sewerage system with 

outlets into said river. 

By an act passed in 1867 (P. L. of 1867, p. 653, sec. 17) Paterson 

had been authorized by the legislature as follows: 

That the mayor and aldermen of the city of Paterson are hereby authorized to 

cause such surveys, maps, and returns to be made as may be necessary to enable 

them to prescribe and adopt, either for the whole or any part of Eaid city, the location of streets and sewers, or either, and the width ther _of, hereafter to be 

opened or constructed therein, and when such location, width, and grade shall be 

adopted, the surveys. maps, and returns prescribing and defining the same shall 

be recorded in the clerk's office of the county of Passaic, and thereupon no street 

or sewer shall thereafter within the district comprised in any such survey, map, 

or return be opened or constructed, except in conformity therewith as to location, 

width, and grade, and fully to accomplish the purposes contemplated by this section the said mayor and aldermen may employ such engineers, surveyors, a:Jld 

other persons, and provide for their compensation and pass such ordinances as 

they may deem to be proper, and may enter upon any land for making surveys 

and examinations. 

On the 26th of February, 1868, Paterson was further authorized to 
GOODELL.] RESTRICTIONS OE' COMMON LAW. 27 

construct sewers and drains (P. L. 1868, p. 126). The second section 

provides: 

That all such sewers and drains shall be constructed in conformity with the 

plans thereof adopted or which shall be adopted by said mayor and aldermen pursuant to the seventeenth section of the act approved April 4, 1867, entitled "A. 

further supplement to the act entitled 'An act amending and revising the act to 

incorporate the city of Paterson.' " 

It was found by the court that, so far as the authority of the State 

can avail for that purpose, the legislative consent, in this case, furnishes ample protection to the city for the appropriate exercise of the 

power granted. 

It was further said that riparian owners below the point where the 

tide ebbs and flows were not entitled to an injunction, because the 

title to their lands did not extend below high-water mark. (See 

Sayre v. Newark, above.) 

The title of owners above the ebb and flow of the tide extends to 

the middle of the stream, subject only to the rights of the public for 

purposes of navigation; and it is held that, notwithstan,ding the legislative grant of authority, such owners can not be deprived of their 

right of property in the river without just compensation. Following 

the case of Beach v. Sterling Iron and Zinc Company (9 Dick., 65), as 

affirmed in 10 Dick., 824, it was decided that the owners above tide 

water were entitled to compensation, but in view of the great detriment to the city if an injunction should be granted and the comparatively small injury done to the owners the injunction was refused, 

except in the alternative that the city should refuse to make such 

compensation for the diminished value of their lands as shall be 

ascertained to be just. 

In this case there is no recognition of the damage done to the lands 

adjoining or near the stream. The complainant's right to redress 

arises wholly from the injury done to the water, in which they have 

a proprietary right. 

STATUTORY RESTRICTION OF WATER POLJ.. .. UTION. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

Speaking generally, jurisdiction over the pollution of waters in the 

United States is c·onfined to the several States. There is no provision 

in the Constitution which gives to Congress authority in the premises, 

partly, no doubt, because at the time of its adoption the great importance of the subject from an interstate point of view was not thought 

, of. Hence, by the familiar principle that the several States retain 

full sovereign powers except so far as such powers are restricted by 

the National Constitution or expressly delegated thereby to the 

National Government, the States have full control of this subject. 

In reviewing these laws, accordingly, we must examine the statutes 

of all the States and Territories. 
28 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [N0.103. 

Uniformity of legislation is not to be expected. The natural conditions existing in different portions of the vast territory are so various, 

the density of population differs so widely in the different sections 

involved, and public enlightenment as to the deleterious effects of 

water pollution and the necessity to restrain it is, in sparsely settled districts, so far behind that which has been developed in congested 

areas by the terrible consequences that statutory regulations must 

necessarily differ. In some States there is found nothing more than 

a simple provision making it a crime to poison wells and springs, 

while others have made elaborate provisions designed to check and, 

so far as possible, absolutely to prevent all pollution of waters by 

mingling with them the refuse products of animal life or the wastes 

of human industry. If, therefore, we are to avoid making this review 

a mere catalogue of statutes, it will be necessary to adopt some system 

of classification and grouping. Doubtless a mere citation of the 

statutes of all the States, taken in their alphabetical order, would 

serve a useful purpose in enabling the reader to turn to the particular section in which his interest lies and to find the legislation which 

affects this section. But if, by a logical grouping of States according 

to their progress in this particular, we can give a clearer idea of the 

status of such legislation as a whole, without seriously interfering 

with the usefulness of the book as a compendium of State laws upon 

this subject, much will be gained. 

Accordingly, I have arranged the States and Territories in three 

groups or classes, placing those in each group in alphabetical order 

for convenience of reference. 

CLASS 1: STATES WITH PARTIAL RESTRICTIONS. 

This group comprises those States and Territories in which the 

legislature has confined itself to forbidding the poisoning or pollution 

of drinking water in certain ways or in certain localities. They 

belong in the same category because they are all at the same stage of 

growth in sanitary education-i. e., there is manifest in their legislation no sense of the general desirability of pure natural waters, but 

only a desire to prevent certain acts recognized as criminal in intent 

or as likely to injure special groups of p~:>rsons (public or private cor-. 

porations) whom the legislature desires to protect. 

An alphabetical list of the States and Territories in Class I, with 

the statutes in force in each at the close of 1903, either given in full 

or abstracted so as to show their nature and force, is here presented. 

ALABAMA. 

[Acts of -<\labama, 1896-97, p. 1281.] 

AN ACT to punish any person who pollutes or contaminates water supplied to 

cities and towns of the State. 

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Alabama, That 

it shall, be unlawful for any person to knowingly deposit any dead ani-
GOODELL.] PARTIAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-ALABAMA. 29 

mal or nauseous substance in any source, standpipe, or reservoir from 

which water is supplied to any citF or town of said State. Any person violating the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 

$500 and may be sentenced to hard labor for the county not exceeding 

one year. 

Approved February 17, 1897. 

·ARKANSAS. 

[Sandel and Hill's Digest, 1894.] • 

SEC. 1903. The throwin~ or dragging of dead animals, or animals in 

a dying condition, into any running stream or other body of water in 

this State in a misdemeanor. 

Anyone violating the provisions of this chapter, on ~onviction 

thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than 

fifty dollars. (Act March 27, 1891). 

[Laws of 1895, Act CXXVi, p. 183.] 

. AN ACT authorizing municipal corporations and other corporations to exercise 

certain privileges, and for other purposes. 

SEC. 7. If any person shall * * * commit such a nuisance in or 

near the impounding dams or reservoirs of any water plant, or shall 

pollute the water or effect [affect] its wholesome qualities, he shall be 

deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and be finea for each and every 

offense in any sum not exceeding $200. 

[Sandel and Hill's Digest, sec. 5134.] 

They [municipal corporations] shall have the power to provide a 

supply of water by the construction and regulation of wells, pumps, 

cisterns, reservoirs, or waterworks; to prevent the unnecessary waste 

of water; to prevent the pollution of the water and injury to the 

waterworks; and for the purpose of establishing or supplying waterworks, any municipal corporation may go bQyond its territorial limits; 

and its jurisdiction to prevent or punish any pollution or injury t<.' the 

stream or source of water, or to the waterworks, shall extend five miles 

beyond its cor.porate limits. 

DELAWARE. 

[Laws of 1893, p. lO'M.] 

AN ACT to amend chapter 242, volume 19,. of the Laws of Delaware, entitled 

"An act to provide for the lighting of Middletown." 

SEC.10 (p. 1029). That if any person or persons shall designedly or 

maliciously injure the said light and waterworks, or obstruct the 

water to and from the same, or in any manner pollute the water supply, 

* * * they shall forfeit and pay to the commissioner of the town 

of Middletown a fine not exceeding one hundred (100) dollars, to be 

recovered, etc. 
30 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND· WATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

FLORIDA.· 

[Revised Statutes of Florida, approved January 8, 1891.] 

SEC. 2658. Poisoning food or water.-Whoever mingles any poison 

with food, drink, or medicine, with intent to kill or injure another 

person, or wilfully poisons any spring, well, or reservoir of water with 

such intent, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison 

for life or any term of years. 

SEC. 2665. Corrwpting or interfering with water supply.-Whoever 

wilfully or maliciously defiles, corrupts, or makes impure any spring 

or other source of water or reservoir, or destroys or injures any pipe, 

conductor of water, or other property pertaining to an aqueduct, or 

aids or abets in any such trespass, shall be punished by imprisonment 

not exceeding one year or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars. 

GEORGIA. 

[Laws of 1896, p. 84.] 

No. 57. AN ACT to prohibit the poisoning of any spring, well, or reservo~r of 

water, to provide a penalty for the violation of the same, and for other purposes. 

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of 

Georgia, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the same, That from 

and after the passage of this act any person who wilfully and wantonly poisons or procures another to poison any spring, fountain, well, 

or reservoir of water shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction therefor shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a term of 

not less than two nor more than twenty years. 

SEC. 2. Repeals inconsistent laws. 

Approved December 19, 1896. 

IDAHO. 

[Penal Code, passed 1901.] 

SEC. 4916. Everyperson * * * whowilfullypoisonsanyspring, 

well, or reservoir of water is punishable by imprisonment in the State 

prison for a term notr less than one nor more than ten years. 

IOWA. 

[Code of Iowa, annotated, 18117.] 

SEC. 4979. Throwing dead animals in stream, spring, etc.-If any 

person throw, or cause to be thrown, any dead animal into any river, 

well, spring, cistern, reservoir, stream, or pond, he shall be imprisoned in the county jail not less than ten nor more than thirty days 

or be fined not less than five nor more than one hundred dollars. 

KENTUCKY. 

[Compilation by John D. Carroll, 2d ed., 1800.] 

SEC. 1278. If any person shall cast or place the carcass of any cattle or that of any· other dead beast in any water course or within 
GOODELL.] PARTIAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-MICHIGAN. 31 

twenty-five yards thereof, or shall cast the same into any spring, or 

into any pond, such person, for every such offence, shall be fined for 

the first offense not less than five nor more than twenty dollars, and 

every subsequent offense not less than twenty nor more than one 

hundred dollars. (Under head of "Offences against public health.") 

LOUISIANA. 

[Revised Laws (Wolff.)] 

SEC. 924. Amending law of 1882, page 109. 

~lakes it an offense to "throw or cause to be thrown or conveyed 

into any navigable stream, bay, or lake within this State, bagasse 

from sugar mills, ballast from vessels, sinking timber of any kind, or 

any other matter of a nature to form an obstruction to its free navigation." 

M~CHIGAN. 

[Compiled Laws of the sJte of Michigan (Lewis M. Miller).] 

SEC. 11496. Willfully poisoning spring, well, or reservoir made a 

crime. J 

SEC. 2806. The council (of a y village located upon or adjaeent to 

any of the navigable waters of this State) shall have authority to 

"provide by ordinance for the ryeservation of the purity of the waters 

of any harbor, river, or other yaters within the village," and other 

powers. 

SEC. 3146. The council (of any city located upon. or adjacent to any 

of the navigable waters of the Sfate) "shall have authority to provide 

by. ordinance for the preservati\m of the purity of the water~ of any 

harbor, river, or other waters within the city, and within one-half of 

a mile from the corporate bounqaries thereof; to prohibit and punish 

the casting or depositing thereiJ of any filth, logs, floating matter, or 

any injurious thing," and other powers. 

[Public Acts, 1899, No. 80, p. 115.] 

AN ACT to prevent and punish th~ pollution and contamination of the waters 

of the stream known as Wolf Creek, in Lewanee County, Michigan, and the 

tributaries thereof. 

The people of the State of Michi~an enact: 

SECTION 1. It shall be unla.Jful for any person or persons to wilfully or in any other manner knowingly to befoul, pollute, contaminate in any manner, so as to render said water offensive for drinking 

purposes, the waters of that stream situated iu the townships of 

Adr~an, Rome, and Cambridge, Lewanee County, Michigan, and 

known commonly as Wolf Creek, or any tributary thereof situated 

in said county, at any place in said stream above the dam from which 

the water supply of the city of Adrian is taken. 

SEC. 2. Whoever mischievously, maliciously, or wilfully puts any 

!lead animal, carcass or part thereof, or any other putrid, nauseous, 
32 LAWS FORBIDDING INLA,ND·W .ATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

noisome, or offensive substance in said stream or its tributaries, or in 

any other manner befouls the waters of said stream or its t.ributaries 

in an unwholesome or offensive manner, or shall drain the contents 

of any barnyard, waste factory products, or other unwholesome substance, into the water of said stream or its tributaries, shall be 

deemed guilty of a violation of this act. 

SEC. 3. Any person convicted of a violation of this act shall be 

punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars and not less 

than five dollars and costs of prosecution,· and in default of the payment of said fine and costs he shall· be imprisoned in the jail of. 

Lewanee County not less than ten nor more thi:m ninety days, or both 

such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court. 

This act is ordered to take immediate effect. 

Approved May 17, 1899. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

[Annotated Code of the General ~tatute Laws (Thompson, Dillard & Campbell).] 

SEC. 1326. (Under "Crimes and misdemeanors.") . If any person 

shall in any manner permanently obstruct any of the navigable waters, 

or shall place any obstruction therein and not remove the same within 

a reasonable time; or if any person shall pollute any such waters by 

putting therein the carcass of any dead animal, or nny refuse or foul 

matter, or any matter or thing calculated to render the water thereof 

less fit for drink or the sustenance of fish, the person so offending, in 

either case, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction shali 

be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than thirty days, or both; but this 

shall not apply to the Mississippi or Yazoo rivers. 

[Amended Laws of 1898, chap. 89, p. 101.] 

Exception of Mississippi and Yazoo rivers dropped out, and the .following clause added: "But this act shall not; be so construed as to 

prevent any city or town in th_is State from constructing sewers so 

as to empty into any navigable streams of water in this State." 

(Approved February 10, 1898.) 

NEBRASKA. 

[Compiled Statutes of Nebraska, 1897.] 

SEC. 6892 (Criminal Code, sec. 229). Putting offensit•e matter into 

well m· spring;-If any person or persons shall put any dead animal, 

carcass or part thereof, or other filthy substance, into any well, or into 

any spring, brook, or branch of running water, of which use is made 

fqr domestic purposes, every person so offending shall be fined in any 

sum not less than two nor more than fortydollars. 

SEC. 6893 (2HO). If. any person or persons shall put the carcass of 

any dead animal, or the offals from any slaughterhouse or butcher's 
GOODELL.] PARTIAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NORTH DAKOTA. 33 

establishment, packing house, or fish house, or any spoiled meats or 

spoiled fish, or any putrid animal substance, or the contents of any 

privy vault, upon or into any river, .hay, creek, pond, canal, road, 

street, alley, lot, field, meadow, public ground, market.space or common * * * he shall be fined in any sum not less than one nor 

more than fifty dollars. 

NORTH DAKOTA. 

[Revised Codes of North Dakota, 1899.] 

SEC. 7291 (Penal Code, sec. 435). Fouling water with gas tar .-Every 

person who throws or deposits any gas tar or refuse of any gas house 

or factory into any public waters, river, or stream, or into any sewer 

or stream emptying into any such public waters, river, or stream, is 

guilty of a misdemeanor. 

[Chap. 69. Fouling the public waters of tbis State.] 

SEC. 7653. Fouling public waters.-Every person who deposits or 

places or causes to· be deposited or placed any dead animal, offal, .or 

other refuse matter offensive to the sight or smell or deleterious to 

health upon the banks or in the waters of any lake or stream, so far 

as the same is within the jurisdiction of the State is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof is punishable by a fine of not 

less than twenty and not exceeding one hundred dollars. 

SEC. 7654. Extent of last section.-The provisions of the last section shall be construed to include privies and privy vaults and any 

stable, shed, pen, yard, or corral wherein is kept any horse, cattle, 

sheep, or swine and located nearer than sixty feet from the top of the 

bank of such lake or stream, and also any slaughterhouse, grave, 

graveyard, or cemetery located nearer than eighty feet therefrom. 

But the provisioy.s of said section shall not be construed to prevent 

any incorporated city within this State from running its sewers into any 

river: Provided, That where there is a dam across said river within 

the corporate limits of any such city, any such sewer shall connect 

with such river below such dam. 

OKLAHOMA. 

[Wilson's Re~d and Annotated Statutes of Oklahoma, vol. 1, p. 894.] 

SEC. 3732. From "An act to prevent public nuisances and fixing 

penalties for maintaining the same." . 

SEC. 16. It shall be unlawful for any person or persons or corporations to put any dead animal, carcass, or part thereof into any well, 

spring, brook, or branch or" running water of which use is made for 

domestic purposes. Every person or persons so offending shall, on 

conviction thereof, be. fined in any sum not less than five nor more 

than one hundred dollars. 

IRR 103-04-3 
34 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W.ATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

SEC. 3733. Any person or persons or corporations who shall put any 

dead animal or any part of the carcass of a dead animal into any river, 

creek, or pond shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not 

lesiS than two. nor more than twenty-five dollars. 

SEc. 2344. Every person who throws or deposits any gas tar, or 

refuse of any gas house or factory into .any public waters, river, or 

stream, or into any sewer or stream emptying into any such public 

waters, river, or stream, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

[Pepper and Lewis Digest, Supplement, p. 98.] 

BURIAL. SEc. 7.-Pnlluti!Jn of water by use of land for bur-ial purposes proh-ibited.-That it shall be unlawful to use for the burial of 

the dead any land the drainage from ·which passes into any stream 

furnishing the whole or any portion -of the water supply of any city, 

except beyond the distance of one mile'from such city: Prov-ided, however, That the prohibitions of this act shall not be enforceable against 

auy land now devoted to burial purposes in which there shall have 

heretofore been burial!> and sales of burial lots. 

NUISANCES. Same, (,lOl. 253 . 

. SEC. 27.-Penalty for pollution of 1vater used for drink-ing- purposes.-Any person who shall wilfully enter upon the enclosed land 

of any company incorporated under the laws of this Commonwealth 

for the purpose of supplying water. to t.he public for drinking purposes, on which land is erected arty dam, reservoir, pond, or other 

artificial means for storing water, and pollute or attempt to pollute 

the water on such land, shall be deemed, and the same is hereby 

declared to be, a misdemeanor, and m.ay be prosecuted and convicted 

as such under the laws of this Comriwnwealth, and on conviction 

thereof in the court of quarter sessions of the proper county shall be 

fined not exceeding fifty dollars, and imprisoned not exceeding sixty 

days. 

SEC. 28.-0ffender to be arrested on view.-That any duly constituted watchman of any such water coin.pany, or any constable or 

policeman, is hereby authorized and empowered, upon his own view 

of any such trespass, to make arrests and bring before any alderman 

or magistrate of the proper county offenders found violating the provisions of this act. 

RHODE ISLAND. 

[Revision of 1896, sec. 16, p. 977.] 

OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON. 

SEC. 16. Every person who shall mingle any poison with any food, 

drink, or medicine, with intent to kill or injure any person, a:nd every 

person who shall wilfully poison any spring, well, or reservoir of 

water with such intent, shall be imprisoned for life or for any term of 

years. 
GOODELL.] PARTIAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-WISCONSIN. 35 

WISCONSIN. 

[Wisconsin Statutes, 1898, p. 651.] 

POWERS OF COUNCIL IN CITIES UNDER GENERAL LAW. 

57. To provide for the . preservation of any harbor within or of 

the city; prevent any use of the same or of such part of any lake, 

river, stream, spring, or pond as is within the city, or any action in 

relation thereto inconsistent with or detrimental to the public health 

or calculated to render the water of the same or any part thereof 

impure or offensive; or tending in any d(;;lgree to fill up and obstruct 

the same; prohibit and. punish the casting or depositing therein of 

any earth, dead animals, ashes; or ot"her substance, or filth, logs, or 

floating matter. * * * 

PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH. 

[Idem, p. 1065.] 

SLAUGHTERHOUSES. SEc. 1418. No person shall erect, maintain, or 

keep any slaughterhouse upon the bank of any river, running stream, 

or creek, or throw or deposit therein any dead animal or any part 

thereof or any of the carcass or offal therefrom, nor throw or deposit 

the same into or upon the banks of any river, stream, or creek which 

shall flow through any city, village,· or organized town containing two 

hundred or more inhabitants, or erect, maintain, or use any 'building 

for a slaughterhouse within the limits of any village, incorporated or 

unincorporated, or at any place within one-eighth of a mile of any 

dwelling house or a building occupied as a place of business; and 

every person who shall violate any of the provisions of this section 

shall forfeit for each such violation not less than ten dollars nor more 

than one hundred dollars; and the mayor of the.city, president of the 

village, and the chairman of the town in which any such slaughterhoul_!le 

is located shall have the power to and shall cause the same to be 

immediately removed; and every such officer who shall knowingly 

permit any such slaughterhouse to 'be used or maintained cont.rary to 

the provisions of this section shall forfeit not less than fifteen dollars 

nor. more than fifty dollars. In any county containing apopulation 

of one hundred thousand or over all the· provisions of this section 

relating to slaughterhouses shall apply to all establishments and manufactories in which dead animals or any part thereof or any of the 

. carcasses or offal therefrom are collected and converted into marketable products. 

OFFENSES AGAIN:ST LIVES AND PERSONS. 

[Idem, p. 20011:1 . 

SEC. 4384. Poisoning food, drink, etc.-Any person who shall mingle 

any poison with any food, drink, or medicine, with intent to kil~ or 

injure any other person, or who shall wilfully poison any spring, well, 
36 LAWS l!'ORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

or reservoir of water with such intent, shall be punished by imprisonment in the State prison not more than ten years nor less than one 

year. 

CLASS II: STATES WITH GENERAL RESTRICTIONS. 

This gro~p consists of those States and Territories in which the 

importance of pure water for every inhabitant of the State or Territory for drinking and domestic purposes has received legislative recognition. It will be noted that the laws are general in their application, 

varying much in the elaborateness of the wording and in the emphasis 

laid upon the remedies and pena,lties provided for infractions of the 

law. 

This class logically includes all States not included in Class I, but 

inasmuch as certain States have recently adopted stringent and 

elaborate methods, novel and extraordinary in their character, to 

restore and protect the purity of their navigable and potable waters, 

these States have been omitted from Class II and are treated in a 

class by themselves, forming Class III (seep. 57). 

CALIFORNIA. 

[Penal code as in force at the close of the session of 1901.] 

SEC. 374. Putting dead animals in streets; rivers, etc.-Every person who puts the carcass of any dead animal, or the offal from any 

slaughter pen, corral, or butcher shop into any river, creek, pond, 

reservoir, stream, street, alley, public highway, or road in common 

use, or who attempts to destroy the same by fire within one-fourth of 

a mile of any city, town, or village, except it be in a crematory, the 

construction and operation of which is satisfactory to the board of 

health of such city, town, or village; and every person who puts any 

water-closet or privy, or the carcass of any dead animal, or any offal 

of any kind in or upon the borders of any stream, pond, lake, or reservoir from which water is drawn for the supply of the inhabitants of 

any city, city and county, or any town in this State, so that the drainage from such water-closet, privy, or carcass, or offal may be taken 

up by' or in such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir; or who allows any 

water-closet or privy, or carcass of any dead animal, or any offal of 

any kind to remain in or upon the borders of any such stream, pond, 

lake, or reservoir within the boundaries of any land owned or occupied by him, so that the drainage from such water-closet, privy, carcass, or offal may be taken up by or in such stream, pond, lake, or 

reservoir, or who keeps any horses, mules, cattle, swine, sheep, or 

live stock of any kind penned, coralled, or housed on, over, or on the 

borders of any such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir, so that the waters 

thereof become polluted by reason thereof, or who bathes in any such 

stream, pond, lake, or reservoir, or who by any other means fouls or 

pollutes the waters of any such stream, pond, lake, or reservoir is 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-COLORADO. 37 

guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as prescribed in section 377. (Commissioners' amendments, 

approved March 16, 1901; took effect July 1, 1901.) 

SEC. 374f. Discharging coal tar, etc., into waters.-Every person, 

firm, as!>ociation, or corporation which shall discharge ·or deposit, or 

shall cause or suffer to be discharged or deposited, or to pass in or 

into the waters of any navigable bay or river in this State any coal 

tar or refuse or residuary product of coal, petroleum, asphalt, bitumen, or other carbonaceous material or substance is guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each offense is punishable· by imprisonment in the 

county jail for not exceeding one year or by fine not exceeding $1,000 

or by both such fine and imprisonment. (New section, approved 

March 25, 1901; took effect immediately. Statutes, 1901, p. 813.) 

COLORADO. 

[Mills' Annotated Statutes, 1891, p. 949.] 

SEc. 1376. Polluting streams~enalty.-If any person or persons 

shall hereafter throw or discharge into any stream of running water 

or into any ditch or flume in this State any obnoxious substance, such 

as refuse matter from slaughterhouse or privy, or slops from eating 

houses or saloons, or any other fleshy or vegetable matter which is 

subject to decay in the water, such person or persons shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not less than one hundred dollars nor more thari five hundred dollars for each and every offense so 

committed. 

SEC. 1357 provides a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars 

for anyone "who shall in anywise pollute or obstruct any water 

course, lake, pond, marsh, or common sewer, or continue such obstruction or pollution so as to render the same offensive or unwholesome," 

&c. 

SEC. 3330 (p. 1861). Emptyingm£ into the waters of the State a misdemeanor-penalty. 

AN ACT to prohibit the emptying or running of oil or petroleum, or other oleaginous substance into any waters of this State, and to impose a penalty for the 

violation of this act. 

[Laws, 1889, p. 287, approved March 7, 1889, in force June 7, 1889.] 

If any person or persons, corporation or corporations shall hereafter 

empty or cause to be emptied, or allow the emptying or flo·wing of 

oil, petroleum, or other oleaginous substance into any of the waters 

of this State, or deposit or cause the same to be deposited at such 

distance that the same may be carried into such waters by natural 

causes, such person or persons, corporation or corporations so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction 

thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or 

both such fine and imprisonment, for each such offense. 
88' L.AWB FOR~IDDING INL.AND•W.ATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

ILLINOIS. 

[Hurd's Revised Statutes, 1901, sec. 202, p. 627.] 

Whoever willfully and maliciously defiles, corrupts, or makes impure 

any spring or other source of water or reservoir * * * shall be 

fined not exceeding one thousand dollars or confined in a county 

jail not exceeding one year. 

Page 631, section 221, makes it a public nuisance1. To cause or suffer the carcass of any animal or any offal, filth, 

or noisome substance to be collected or deposited or to remain in any 

place to the prejudice of others. 

2. •_ro tlirow or deposit any offal or other offensive matter, or any 

carcass of any dead animal, in any water course, lake, pond, spring, 

well, or common sewer, street or public highway. · 

3. To corrupt-or render unwholesome or impure the water of any 

spring, river, stream, pond, or lake to the injury or prejudice of 

others. 

INDIANA. 

[Burns's Annotated Statutes, 1894.] 

SEc. 2156. Nuisance by dead animals.-·whoever puts the carcass 

of any dead animal or the offal from any slaughterhouse or butcher's 

establishment, packing bouse, or fish house, or any. spoiled meat.s or 

spoiled fish, or any putrid animal tmbstance, or the contents of any 

privy vault upon or into any river, pond, canal, lake, public ground, 

market place, common, field, meadow, lot, road, street, or alley, and 

whoever; being the owner or occupant of any such place, knowingly 

pe~its any such thing to remain therein to the annoyance and injury 

of any of the citizens of the State, or neglects or refuses to remove or 

abate the nuisance occasioned thereby within twenty-four hours after 

knowledge of the existence of such nuisance upon any of the above 

described premises owned or occupied by him, or after notice tberE~of, 

in writing, from any health officer of t~e city or the trustee of the 

township in which such nuisance exists shall be fined not more than 

one hundred dollars nor less than one-dollar. 

SEC. 2169. Whoever maliciously or mischievously puts any dead 

animal carcass or part thereof. on, or any other putrid, nauseous, 

noisome, or· offensive.substance into, ·* * * or in any manner 

befouls any well, cistern, spring, brook, canal, or stream of running 

water, or any reservoir of waterworks of which any use is made or 

may be made for domestic purposes shall be fined not more than one 

hundred dollars nor less than :five dollars, to which may be added 

imprisonment Jn the county jail not more than sixty days nor less 

than ten days. _ 

SEC. 3538. Stre~ and ferries.-The common coqncil shall have 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-INDI.A.N.A.. 89 

exclusive power to keep open streams, and preserve, and, if necessary.and expedient, change the course of rivers passing through or 

bordering upon the corporate limits of. such city; to prevent encroachment or injury to the banks thereof, or the casting into the same of 

offal, dead an~mals, logs, or rubbish. * * * 

[Acts of lllOl, Chap. LXI, p. 96.] 

AN ACT prohibiting the discharge of waste water and. r; fuse of manufacturing 

establishments into streams of water, conferring certain powers upon the State 

board of health in such cases, providing penalties for the violation thereof, and 

declaring an emergency. 

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of 

Indiana, That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation owning or operating any manufacturing establishment to discharge or permit to be discharged into any stream of water any waste 

water or refuse from said factory of such character as to pollute said 

stream, except. by and in pursuance to a written permission so to do, 

first obtained from the State bo~rd of health as hereinafter provided. 

S:Ec. 2. Whenever any person, firm, or corporation, owning or 

operating a manufacturing establishment shall file with the secretary of the State board of health a verified application in writing, 

asking permission to be allowed to discharge into any stream any 

waste water or refuse from such establishment, and showing therein 

that the water of said stream is at such stage as that such refuse or 

waste water may be safely discharged into such stream without 

injury to the public, it shall be the duty of such board to inspect the 

said stream at and below the point of such propased discharge, and 

if it is found that such refuse and waste water may be safely discharged therein without injury as •aforesaid, the said board may, in 

its discretion, grant and issue a written permit allowing such discharge int.o said stream for a time to be limited therein,. which permit shall be void and of no effect after the time so fixed, and may. be 

revoked by said board at any time. The holder of any such permit 

regularly issued by such board shall be· authorized to discharge any 

such refuse or waste water into such stream during the time fixed 

and limited in such permit, a:nd shall not be liable therefor in any 

suit at law or in equity: Provided, That nothing herein contained 

shall prevent any person specially damaged by any such discharge 

f~om recovering the amount of such special damages so sustained in 

an action at law brought for such purpose. 

SEC. 3. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this act shall be fined in any sum not less than twenty-five 

dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. 

SEC. 4. Whereas an emergency exists for the immediate taking 

effect of this act, the same shall be in force on and after its passage. 
40 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND•WA.TER POLLUTION. [NO. 100. 

·MAINE. 

[Laws of 1891, chap. Sl!, p. 67.] 

AN ACT to protect waters tised for domestic purposes. . 

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in legisla;flufioe 

assembled, as follows: 

SECTION 1. Whoever knowingly and wilfully poisons, defiles, or in 

any way corrupts the waters of any well, spring, brook, lake, pond, 

river, or reservoir used for domestic purposes for man or beast, or 

knowingly corrupts the sources of the water supply of any water company or of any city or town supplying its inhabitants with water, or 

the tributaries of said sources of supply, in such manner as to affect 

the purity of the water so supplied, or knowingly defiles such water 

in any manner, whether the same be frozen or not, or puts the carcass 

of any dead animal or other offensive material into said waters or upon 

the ice thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year. 

SEC. 2. Whoever shall wilfully injure any of the property of any 

water company or of any city or town used by it in supplying water 

to its inhabitants shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, and such 

person shall also forfeit and pay to such water company, city, or town 

three times the amount of actual damages sustained, to be recovered 

in an action of the case. 

SEc. 3. Inconsistent acts repealed. 

[Laws of 1903, Special Laws, chap. 94, p. 156.] 

AN ACT to prevent the polluti?n of the waters of Sebago Lake. 

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in legislature 

assembled, as follows: 

SECTION 1. No person or corporation shall use or occupy any structure hereafter built upon or near the shores of Sebago Lake, in the 

county of Cumberland, or upon .any of the islands of said lake for 

such purposes or in such manner that the sewage or drainage therefrom shall enter the waters of said lake or pollute the same. 

SEC. 2. No sewage, d_rainage, refuse, or polluting matter of such 

kind and amount as either by itself or in connection with other matter will corrupt or impair the quality of the water of said Sebago 

Lake or render it injurious to health shall be discharged into said 

lake, but nothing herein shall prohibit the cultivation and use of the 

soil in the ordinary methods of agriculture if no human excrement is 

used thereon within three hundred feet of the shores of said lake. 

SEC. 3. The supreme judicial court shall have jurisdiction in equity 

to enjoin, prevent, or restrain any violation of the provisions of this act. 

SEc. 4. This act shall take effect when approved. 

Approved February 26, 1903. 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-MISSOURI. 41 

MARYLAND. 

[Poe's Maryland Code, adopted March 14, 1888.] 

RIVERS. 

SEC: 240. If any ballast, ashes, filth, earth, soil, oysters, or oyster 

shells be taken, unladen, or cast out of any ship, steamboat, scow, 

pungy, or other vessel, on any pretense whatever, in the Cpesapeake 

Bay above "Sandy Point," or in the waters of Herring Bay, orin any 

river, creek, or harbor within this State, below high-water mark, the 

niaster or other person having charge of such vessel shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined. 

Waters of Potomac River above the canal dam near the mouth 

of Wills Creek are protected by section 242 against pollution calculated to render the waters of said riv--er "impure or unfit for use." 

WATER SUPPLY-POLLUTION OF SOURCES OF. 

[Passed in 1886, chap. 6.] 

SEC. 277. If any person shall put, or cause to be placed, any d~ad 

animal or part of ~he carcass of any dead animal, or any decayed or 

filthy animal or vegetable matter,"into any stream, or the tributary 

of any stream, well, spring, reservoir, pond, or other source from 

which water or ice is drawn, taken, or used for drinking or domestic 

puposes, or shall knowingly suffer any sewage, washings, or other 

offensive matters from any privy, cesspool, factory, trades establishment, slaughterhouse, tannery, or other place over which he shall 

have control, to flow therein, or into any drain or pipe communicating 

therewith, whereby the water supply of any city, town, village, community, or household is fouled or rendered unfit for drinking and 

domestic purposes, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon 

. conviction thereof in a court of competent jurisdiction, be fined not 

more than two hundred dollars for every such offence; and after reasonable notice, not exceeding fifteen days, from the State board of 

health, or any local sanitary authority, to discontinue the act whereby 

such water supply is fouled, a further sum of not more than fifty 

dollars for every day during which the offence is continued. 

MISSOURI. 

[Revised Statutes, 18911.] 

CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. 

SEC. 2234. Putting dead animals in well, &c.-If any person or persons shall put any dead animal, carcass, or part thereof, the offal, or 

any other filth into any well, spring, brook, branch, creek, pond, or 

lake, every person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined 

in any sum not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars. If 

any person shall remove,· or cause to be removed and placed * * * 

in any of the streams and water courses other than the Missouri or 

Mississippi River, any dead animal, carcass, or part thereof, or other 
42 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103 

nuisance, to the annoyance of the citizens of this State, or any of 

them, every person so offending shall, upon conviction thereof, be 

fined for every such offence any sum not less than ten dollars nor 

more than fifty dollars, and if such nuisance be not removed within 

three days thereafter, it shall be deemed a second offence against the 

provisions of this section. 

SEC. 2235. Corrupting or diverting water supply.-Whoever willfully o:r: maliciously poisons, defiles, or in any way corrupts the water . 

of a well, spring, brook, or reservoir used for domestic or municipal 

purposes, or whoever willfully or maliciously diverts, dams up, and 

holds back from its natural course and flow any spring, brook, or 

other water supply for domestic or municipal purposes, after said 

water supply shall have once been taken for use by any person or 

persons, corporations, town, or cit,y for their use, shall be adjudged 

guilty of a misdemeanor and punished by a fine not less than fifty 

nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county 

jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, 

and shall be liable to t.he party injured for three times the actual 

damage sustained, to be recovereli by suit at law. 

SEC. 1974. Injury to schoolhouses and church buildings.-Every person * * * who shall in any manner pollute the water contained 

in any well, cistern, or reservoir (in which water is gathered or kept 

for the supply of a schoolhouse or those attending the same) shall be 

guilty of a misdemeanor. 

NEVADA. 

[General Statutes of Nevada.] 

SEC. 4617. (Crimes and punishments, sec. 54.) * * * Every 

person who shall willfully poison any spring, well, or reservoir of 

water shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment 

in the State prison for a term not less than one nor more than ten 

years. 

Sawdust in rivers.-It is made a misdemeanor to deposit sawdust 

in or on the waters of any lake, river, or running stream by laws of 

1889, page 24, Chapter XV. 

[Laws of Nevada, 1903, Chap. CXXII, p. 214.] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution or contamination of the waters of the lakes, 

rivers, streams, and ditches in the State of Nevada, prescribing penalties, and 

making an appropriation to carry out the provisions of this act. (Approved 

March 20, 1903.) 

The people of the State of Nevada, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows: 

SECTION 1. Unlawful to pollute .any body of water.-Any person or 

persons, firm, cm;npany, corporation, or association in this State, or 

the managing agent of any person or persons, firm, company, corporation, or association in this State, or any duly elected, appointed, or 

lawfully created state officer of this State, or· any duly elected, 
GOODELL.] GENER.AL ST.ATUTE RESTRICTIONS---NEV.AD.A. 43 

appointed, or lawfully created officer of any county, city, town, municipality, or municipal government in this State, who shall deposit, or 

who shall permit or allow any person -or persons in their employ or 

under their control, management, or direction to deposit in any of 

the waters of the lakes, rivers, streams, and ditches in this State 

any sawdust, rubbish, filth, or poisonous or deleterious substance 

or substances liable to affect ~he health of persons, fish, or live stock, 

or place or deposit any such deleterious substance or substances 

in any place where the same may be washed or infilt.ered into any of 

the waters herein named, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 

and upon conviction thereof in any court of competent jurisdiction 

s all be fined in any sum not less than fifty dollars nor more than 

fi e hundred dollars, exclusive of court costs: Provided, 'fhat in 

c ses of State institutions, municipalities, towns, incorporated towns 

o cities, when, owing to the magnitude of the work, immediate corr ction of the evil is impracticable, then i!J- such cases the authorities 

s all adopt all new work, and as rapidly as possible reconstruct 

t e old systems of drainage, sewerage,- and so as to conform with the 

p ·ovisions of this act: And provided further, That all such new and 

r constructed systems shall be completed within four years from the 

d te of passage hereof: Prov-ided, That nothing in this act shall be so 

construed as to permit mining or milling companies to dump tailings 

directly into any stream in this State so as to prevent or impede the 

naturalflowof such stream. Nothing in this act shall be so construed 

P.S to apply to any quartz mill or ore reduction works in this State. 

SEC. 2. For the purposes of this act the word ''ditch" shall be construed to mean any ditch, canal, channel, or artificial waterway used 

for carrying or conducting water into any reservoir from which it may 

be used or distributed for domestic purposes to any person in this 

State, or to any person in any county, city, town, or municipality in 

this State. 

SEc. 3. The sum of three thousand dollars is hereby appropriated 

out of any money in the state treasury, not otherwise appropriated, 

subject to the disposal of 'the governor of this State, for the purpose 

of enforcing the provisions of this act, either in the courts of this 

State or iu the courts of -the United States, such expenditure to be 

allowed and paid as other claims against the State are allowed and 

paid. 

SEc. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the 

first day of July, A. D. nineteen hundred and'four. 

NEW MEXICO. 

[Compiled Laws,. act of March 16, 1897.] 

STREAMS AND LAKES. 

SEC. 54. It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to throw 

or cast the dead body or carcass of any animal or foul, or to ruri or 
44 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

empty any ~ewers or other polluted or befouled. substances into any 

river, stream, lake, pond, reservoir, ditch, or any water course, or to 

i~ any manner or by any means pollute or befoul the waters thereof, 

within this territory, so as to render the same unwholesome or offensive 

or dangerous to the health of the inhabitants of any community or of 

any person having the right to use and who uses the same, for drinking or domestic purposes, or that may. render such waters unfit or 

dangerous for watering stock, or for agricultural or horticultural purposes. 

SEc. 55. That the polluting of waters in any of the manners above 

specified, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, which shall be 

immediately removed by the person or persons creating the same, 

upon the demand of any public officer or of any person or persons, 

who may have a right to the use of said waters. 

SEc. 56. That any person or persons violating any of the provisions 

of sec. 54 may be tried therefor before any justice of the peace of the 

county where the offence is committed and upon conviction thereof 

shall be punished by a fine in any sum not less than ten dollars nor 

more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail 

for any period of time not less than ten days nor more than sixty 

days, or by both fine and imprisonment. And in addition thereto the 

justice of the peace shall direct the sheriff of the county or the constable of the precinct to relieve such nuisance, at the expense of the 

person or persons creating the same, which said expenses shall be 

taxed as other costs against the person or persons so offending, and 

shall be collected in the·manner provided by law for the collection of 

costs in criminal cases. 

[Laws of 18119, chap. 79, p. 175.] 

AN ACT to amend section 54 of the compiled laws of 1897. (Approved March 

16th, 1899.) 

Be it enacted by the legislative assemby of the Territory of New 

Mexico: 

SECTION 1. That section 54 of the compiled laws of 1897 be, and 

the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: 

SEc. 54. It is hereby: made unlawful for any person to cast the 

dead body of any animal or fowl, or any refuse matter, such as tin 

cans, paper, ashes, bones, or other garbage into any running stream, 

spring, lake, pond, reservoir, ditch, or water course, or to run or empty 

any sewer or other foul substance into the same, or in any other manner or means to pollute or foul the said water so as to render. the same 

offensive or dangerous to the health of the inhabitants of any community or of any person having the right to use the same for drinking" or domestic purposes, or that may render said waters unfit or 

unhealthy for watering stock. But it shall· be the duty of every 

person outside of incorporated towns, cities, or villages, to destroy all 

domestic refuse and garbage by burning the same; any violation of 
ooooELL.] GENERAL STATU'l'E RESTRIOTIONS-NORTH CAROLINA. 45 

this section shall be considered a misdemeanor and punished as provided by law. 

SEC. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby 

repealed; and this act shall take effect from and after its passage. 

[Laws of 1900, chap. 21, p. 32.] 

AN ACT to prevent injury to ditches, pipe lines, reservoirs, and the taking of and 

be~ouling of water therefr~m. (Approved March lOth, 1903.) 

Be ·it enacted by the legislative assembly of the Territory of New 

Mexico: · 

SECTION 1. Any person who shall ·wilfully and maliciously cut, 

break, or injure, or who shall by shooting or by damming or obstructing the same cause to break, or injure any ditch, flume, pipe 

line, or reservoir, belonging to another, or any of the attachments or 

fixtures used in connection therewith, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor 

and shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00} 

nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00), or by confinement in the county 

jail for not more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court trying the case, except in cases 

where such pipe line or reservoir is used for the purpose of supplying 

water to any community, village, town, or city for domestic purposes, 

in which event the person committing such offence shall be punished 

by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00} nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail not less 

than thirty nor more than sixty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court trying the case. 

SEc. 2. Any person who shall bathe in, or wilfully cast any filth 

in, any reservoir or ditch used for supplying water for domestic use 

shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined 

not less than ten dollars ($10.00) or not more than twenty-five dollars 

($25.00). 

SEC. 3. All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby 

repealed, and this act shall take effect from and after its passage. 

NORTH CAROLINA. 

[North Carolina Criminal Code and Digest (2d ed.), p. 436.] 

SEC. 500. Putting poisonous substance in water for the purpose of 

killing fish is forbidden. 

Laws of 1903, chapter 245, page 321, forbids throwing sawdust into 

the water courses of Yancey County. 

[Laws of North Carolina, 1903, Chap. Hill, p. 182.] 

AN ACT to protect water supplies. 

Sections 1 to 10, inclusive, provide a thorough l!ystem of inspection 

and forbid any person or corporation to supply water for the public 

without taking the precautions therein prescribed .. 
46 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND· WATER POLLUTION. [No.l03. 

Sections 11 to 17 are as follows: 

SEC. 11. Whoever defiles, corrupts, pollutes any well,_spring, drain, 

branch, brook, or creek, or other source of public water supply usedfor drinking purposes, in any manner, or deposits the body of any 

dead animal on the watershed of any such water supply, or allows the -

same to remain thereon unless the same is buried with at· least two · 

feet cover, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined and impris- . 

oned, in the discretion of the court. 

SEC. 12. Whoever s:Q.all collect and deposit human excreta on the 

watershed of any public water supply shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, 

and punished by fine and imprf~:~onnient, in the discretion of the court. 

SEC. 13. No person, firm, corporation, or municipality shall flow or 

discharge sewage into any drain, brook, creek, or river from which a 

public drinking-water supply is taken, unless· the same shall have 

been passed through some well-kn_own system of sewage purification 

approved by the state board of health. Any person, firm, corporation, or the officer· of any mmi.icipality having this work in charge, 

who shall violate this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 

the continued flow and discharge of such sewage may be enjoined by 

any p~rson. 

SEc. 14. That all schools, hamlets, villages, towns, or. industrial 

settlements which are now located or may be hereafter located on the 

shed of any public water supply not provided with a sewerage system, 

shall provide and maintain a tub system for collecting human excrement, and provide for removal of the same from the watershed at 

least twice each week. Every person, firm, corporation, or municipality violating this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and 

fined or imprisoned, in the discretion of the court. 

SEc. 15. No burying ground or cemetery shallbe established on the 

watershed of any public water supply nearer than five hundred yards 

of the source of supply. 

SEC. 16. All water companies now operating under charters from 

the State or municipalities, which may maintain public water supplies, may acquire py condemnation such lands and rights in land 

and water as are necessary for the successful operation and protection 

of their plants, said proceedings to be the same as prescribed by chapter 49, volume 1, of the Code of North Carolina. 

SEC. 17. For carrying out the provisions of this act the state board 

of health is authorized and empowered to have the bacteriological 

examination made as hereinbefore provided for, and to charge for the 

same the sum of five dollars ($5.00) for each-examination. 

OHIO. 

[Bates's Annotated Revised Statutes of Ohio, p. 3343.] 

·SEC. 6921. Ntf,isance.-Whoever * * * corrupts or renders 

unwholesome or impure any water course, stream, or water * * * 

shall be fined not more than'five hundred dollars. 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-OHIO. 47 

SEC. 6923. (Unlawful deposit of dead animals, offal, &c., into or 

wpon land or water.)-Whoever puts the carcass of any dead animal, 

· or the offal from any slaughterhouse or butcher's establishment, 

packing house, or fish house, or any spoiled meat or spoiled fish, or 

any putrid substance, or the contents of any privy vaults, upon or 

into any lake, river, bay, creek, pond, canal, road, street, alley, lot, 

field, meadow, public ground, market place or common, and whoever, 

being the owner or occupant of any such place, _knowingly permits 

any such thing to remain therein, to the annoyance of any of the citizens of this State, neglects or refuses to remove or abate the nuisance 

occasioned thereby, within twenty-four hours after knowledge of the 

existence of such nuisance upon.any of the above-described premises, 

owned or occupied by him, or after notice thereof in writing from 

any supervisor, constable, trustee, or health ofl;icer of any municial 

corporation or township in which such nuisance exists, or from a 

county commissioner of such county, shall be fined not more than 

fifty dollars nor less than ten dollars and pay the costs of prosecution, and in default of the payment of said fine and costs be imprisoned not more than thirty days, but the provisionR hereinbefore made 

shall not prohibit the depositing of the contents of privy vaults and 

catch-basins into trenches or pits not less than three feet deep, exca~ 

vated in any lot, field, or meadow, the owner thereof consenting, outside the limits of any municipal corporations, and-not less than thirty 

.rods distant from any dwelling, well, or spring of water, lake, bay, or 

pond, minal, run, creek, brook, or stream of water, public road or 

highway: Provided, That said contents deposited in said tren~hes or 

pits are immediately thereafter covered with dry earth to the depth 

of at least twelve inches; nor shall _said provisions prohibit the 

depositing of said contents into furrows situate and distinct, as specified for said trenches or pits, provided the same are immediately 

thereafter wholly covered with dry earth by plowing or otherwise: 

And provided also,- That t.he owner or occupant of the land in which 

said furrows are plowed consents and is a party thereto: Provided 

also, That the board of health of any municipal corporation may 

allow said contents to be deposited within corporate limits into 

trenches or pits or furrows, situate distant and to be covered as 

aforesaid. 

SEC. 6925. Emptying of coal dirt, petroleum, &c., into lakes, rivers, 

&c., or permitting same,· penalty.-Whoever int~ntionally throws or 

deposits, or permits to be thrown or deposited, any coal dirt, coal 

slack, coal screenings, or coal refuse from coal mines, or any refuse or 

filth from any coal-oil refinery or gas works, or any whey or filthy 

drainage from a cheese factory, upon or into any of the rivers, lakes, 

ponds, or streams of this State, or upon or into any place from which 

the s~:tme will wash into any such river, lake, pond, or stream; or whoever shall, by, himself, agent, or employe, cause, suffer, or permit any 
48 LA WB E'ORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [No.l03. 

petroleum, or crude oil, or refined oil, or any compound or mixture or 

other product of such well, except fresh or salt wat_er, or residuum of 

oil or filth from oil well, or oil tank, or oil vat, or place of deposit, of 

crude or refined oil, to run into, or be poured, or emptied, or thrown 

into any river, or ditch, or drain, or water course, or into any place 

from which said petroleum, or crude oil, or residuum, or refined oil, or 

filth may run or wash, or does run or wash, into any such river, or 

ditch, or drain, or water course, upon indictment and conviction in 

the county in which such coal mines, coal-oil refinery, gas works, cheese 

factory, oil well, oil tank, oil vat, or place of deposit of crude or refined 

oil are situated, shall be .fined in any sum not more than one thousand 

dollars nor less than fifty dollars. 

(Fine and costs a lien>· execution. )-And such fine and costs of prosecution shall be and remain a lien on said oil well, oil tank, oil refinery, 

oil vat, and place of deposit, and the contents of said oil well, oil tank, 

oil refinery, oil vat, or place of deposit, until said fine and costs are 

paid; and said oil well, oil tank, oil refinery, oil vat, or place of 

deposit, and the contents thereof, may be sold for the payment of 

such fine and costs upon execution duly issued for that purpose. 

SEC. 6927. (Befouling well, spring, &c.)-Whoever maliciously puts 

any dead animal carcass, or part thereof, or any other putrid, nauseous, noisome, or offensive substance into, or in any manner befouls, 

any well, spring, brook, or branch of running water, or any reservoir 

of water works, of which use is or may be made for domestic purposes, 

shall be fined not more than fifty nor less than five dollars, or imprisoned not more than sixty days, cir both. 

OREGON. 

[Bellinger and Colton's Annotated Codes and Statutes of Oregon, vol. 1, p. 735.] 

OF CRIMES AGAINST THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 

SEC. 2128. Polluting with sewage, &c., water for domestic use unlawful.-Any person who shall put any sewage,-drainage, or refuse, 

or polluting matter, as either by itself or in connection with other 

matter will corrupt or impair the quality of any well, spring, brook, 

creek, branch, or pond of water, which is used or may be used for 

domestic purposes, shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor. (Laws 

1885, p. 110, sec. 1.) 

SEC. 2129. Anjmal carcass, &c., ttnlawful to place in water for 

domestic use or near dwelling.-If any person shall put any dead animal carcass, or part thereof, excrement, putrid, nauseous, noisome, 

decaying, deleterious, or offensive substance into, or in any other 

manner not herein named befouls, pollutes, or impairs the quality of, 

any spring, brook, creek, branch, well, or pond of water, which is or 

may be used for domestic purposes, or shall pnt any such dead animal carcass, or part thereof, excrement, putrid, nauseous, noisome, 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-SOUTH DAKOTA. 49 

decaying, deleterious, or offensive substance within one-half mile of 

any dwelling house or public highway, and leave the same without 

proper burial, or, being in the possession or control of any land, shall 

knowingly permit or suffer any such dead animal carcass, or part 

thereof, excrement, putrid, nauseous, noisome, decaying, deleterious, 

or offensive substance to remain without proper burial upon such 

premises, within one-half mile of any dwelling house or public highway, whereby the same becomes offensive to the occupants of such 

dwelling or .the traveling public, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. (18~5, p. 110, sec. 2). 

SEC. 2130. Penalty for violating preceding provisions and jurisdiction to enforce.-Any person violating the provisions of this act shall, 

upon conviction, be fined not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, 

or be imprisoned not less than five days nor more than twenty-five 

days, or by both fine and imprisonment. Justices of the peace shall 

have jurisdiction of offences committed against the provisions of this 

act. 

SEC. 2131. Polluting water used for domestic purposes, or to which 

live stock have access, unlawful.-lf any person or persons shall put 

any dead animal's carcass, or part thereof, 01," any excrement, putrid, · 

nauseous, decaying, deleterious, or offensive substance in any well, 

· or into any spring, brook, or branch of running water, of which use 

is made for domestic purposes, or to which any cattle, horses, or other 

kind of stock have access, every person so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less thari three nor more than 

fifty dollars. 

SEC. 2133. Animal carcass, unlawful to put in river or elsewhere to 

indury of health.-If any person or persons shall put any part of the 

carcass of any dead animal into any river, creek, pond, road, street, 

alley, lane, lot, field, meadow, or common, or if the owner or owners 

thereof shall knowingly permit the same to remain in any of the 

aforesaid places to the injury of the health or to the annoyance of the 

citizens of this State, or any of them, every person so offending shall, 

on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than two nor more 

than twenty-five dollars, and every twenty-four hours during which 

said owner may permit the same to remain thereafter shall be deemed 

an additional offence against the provisions of this act. 

SOUTH DAKOTA. 

[Revised Codes of 1003, Penal Code (p. 1146).] 

SEc. 445. Every person who throws or deposits any gas, tar, or 

refuse of any gas house or factory, into any public waters, river, or 

stream, or into any sewer or stream emptying into such public waters, 

river, or stream, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 

SEC. 446. It shall be unlawful for any perRon, persons, company, or · 

IRR 103-04-4 
50 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

corporation to place or cause to be placed any manure, butchE.>r's offal, 

carcasses of animals, or other deleterious substances, intp any river, 

stream, or lake, in the State of South Dakota, or upon the oanks 

thereof in such proximity that such substances may be washed into 

said water or water courses. 

SEC. 447. Any violation of the provisions of this chapter is a misdemeanor, and the person, persons, company, or corporation ·so violating are deemed guilty thereof, and upon conviction shall be liable 

to a fine not less than ten dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, 

and in addition thereto such offending person or persons shall be subjected to imprisonment in the county jail for the period of thirty days 

unless he or they cause such deleterious substances to be removed. 

SEc: 448. This act shall not be construed ·as to interfere with or 

prevent any necessary or legitimate mining operation or sewerage 

system. 

TENNESSEE. 

[Code of Tennessee, 18D6.] 

SEc. 6869. It is a public nuisance- * * * 

3. To corrupt or render unwholesome or. impure the water of any 

river, stream, or pond to the injury or prejudice of others. 

SEc. 6520. If any person place or throw the dead body of any animal in any spring, well, cistern, or running stream of water he is 

guilty of a misdemeanor. 

[1903, chap. 310, p. 900.] 

Section 1 mal{es it a misdemeanor for "any person to in any way 

wilfully * * * disturb, pollute, contaminate, or injure the water 

in the tanks, standpipes, or reservoirs of any such waterworks· by 

bathing therein or by any other act or acts tending to injure the 

water or to make it unpalatable, unwholesome, or unfit for domestic 

or manufacturing purposes, of any plant supplying water for ~omestic or manufacturing purposes," however owned. 

SEC. 2. That it shall be a misdemeanor for any person to wilfully 

corrupt or to permit anything to run or fall into any stream from 

which water shall be taken for the purpose of supplying water to any 

water plant such as is referred to in section 1 of this act, and any 

person violating this section shall be punished as provided in section 

1 hereof. 

Act takes effect April 7, 1903, on its passage. 

TEXAS. 

[White's Annotated Penal Code of Texas, p. 256.] 

OFFENCES AFFECTING PUBLIC HEALTH. 

ART. 424. If any person shall in any wise pollute of (or?) obstruct 

any water course, lake, pond, marsh, or common sewer, or continue 

.eu.ch obstruction or pollution so as to render the same unwholesome 
GOODELL.) GENERAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-UTAH. 51 

or offensive to the inhabitants of the county, city, town, or neighborhood thereabout, he shall be fined in ·a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. 

OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON. 

ART. 647. If any person shall mingle or cause to be mingled any 

other noxious potion or substance with any drink, food, or medicine, 

with intent to kill or injure any other person, or shall wilfully poison 

or cause to be poisoned any spring, well, cistern, or reservoir of water 

with such intent, he shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years. 

UTAH. 

[Revised Statutes, p. 910, Penal Code: Public Health and Safety.] 

SEC. 4274. Befouling wafers.-Any person who shall either: 

1. Construct or maintain any corralJ sheep pen, stable, pigpen, 

chicken coop or other offensive yard or outhouse where the waste or 

drainage therefrom shall flow directly into the waters of any stream, 

well, or spring of water used for domestic purposes; or 

2. Deposit, pile, unload, or leave any manure heap, offensive rubbish, or the carcass of any dead animal where the waste or drainage 

therefrom will flow directly into the waters of any stream, well, or 

spring of water used for domestic purposes; ot· 

3. Dip or wash sheep in any stream, or construct, maintain, or use 

any pool or dipping vat for dipping or washing sheep in such close 

proximity to any stream used by the inhabitants of any city, town, or 

village for domestic purposes as to make the waters thereof impure 

or unwholesome; or 

· 4. Construct or maintain any corral, yard, or vat to be used for the 

purpose of shearing or dipping !sheep within twelve miles of any city, 

town, or village where the refuse or filth from said corral or yard 

would nat,urally find its way into any stream of water used by the 

inhabitants of any city, village, or town for domestic purposes; or 

5. Establish and maintain any corral, camp, or bedding place for 

the purpose of herding, holding, or keeping any cattle, horses, sheep, 

or hogs within seven miles of any city, town, or village where the 

refuse or filth from said corral, camp, or bedding place will naturally 

find its way into any stream of water used by the inhabitants of 

any city, town, or village for domestic purposes, shall be guilty of 

a misdemeanor. 

[Laws of 1899, chap. 45, p. 66.] 

SEC. 2. No house refuse, offal, garbage, dead animals, decaying 

vegetable matter, or organic waste substance of any kind shaE be 

thrown on or allowed to remain upon any street, road, ditch, gutter, 

public place, private premises, vacant lot, water course, lak~, pond, 

spring, or well. 
52 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLI,UTION, [No.103. 

VIRGINIA. 

[Pollard's General Laws, 1887-1896, chap. 72, p. 44 (Acts 1887-88, p. 88).] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution of drinking water in this State. (Approved 

February 3, 1888.) 

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That any person or persons who shall knowingly and wilfully throw or cause to 

be thrown into any reservoir or other receptacle of drinking water, 

or spring, or stream of running water ordinarily used for the supply 

of drinking water or domestic purposes of any person or family, 

town, or city in this Commonwealth the dead body of any animal, or 

shall drown and leave, or cause to be drowned and left any animal 

therein shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof 

shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisoned not 

exceeding six months, or both, at the discr~tion of the court in which 

such conviction is made. 

[Idem, p. 115 (Acts 1891-92, p. 759).] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution of potable water used for the supply of cities 

and towns. (Approved February 29, 1892.) 

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, 'rhat it shall 

be unlawful, except as hereinafter provided, for any person to defile 

or render impure, turbid, or offensive the water used for the supply 

of any city or town of this State, or the sources or streams used for 

furnishing such supply, or to endanger the purity thereof by the following means, or any of them, to wit, by washing or bathing therein, 

or by casting into any spring, well, pond, lake, or reservoir from which 

such supply is drawn, or into any stream so used, or the tributary 

thereof above the point where such supply is taken out of such stream 

or is impounded for the purposes oi such supply, or into any canal, 

acqueduct, or other channel or receptacle for water connected with 

any works for furnishing a public water supply, any offal, dead fish, 

or carcass of any animal, or any human or animal filth or other foul 

or waste animal matter, or any waste vegetable or mineral substance, 

or the refuse of any mine, manufactory, or manufacturing process, 

or by discharging or permitting to flow into any such source, spring, 

well, reservoir, pond, stream, or the tributary thereof, canal, acqueduct, or other receptacle for water, the contents of any sewer, privy, 

stable, or barnyard, or the impure drainage of any mine, any crude 

or refined petroleum, chemicals, or any foul, noxious, or offensive 

drainage whatsoever, or by constructing or maintaining any privy 

vault or cesspool, or by storing manure or other soluble fertilizer of 

an offensive character, or by disposing of the carcass of any animal, 

or any foul, noxious, or putrescible substance, whether solid or fluid 

and whether the same be buried or not, within two hundred feet of 

any water course, canal, pond, or lake aforesaid, which is liable· to 
GOODELL.] GENERAL ST.ATUT.E RESTRtcTIONS-VIRGINIA. 53 

contamination by the washing thereof or percolation therefrom: Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to 

authorize the pollution of any of the waters of this State in any manner now contrary to law: And provided further, 'l'hat this act shall 

not apply to streams the drainage area of which, above the point 

where the water thereof is withdrawn for the supply of any city or 

town, or is impounded for the purposes of such supply, shall exceed 

fifty square miles. 

2. That any person knowingly or wilfully violating the terms of 

this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished for each offence by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or 

by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both, at the discretion of.the court: And provided further, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to prevent the washing of ore or 

minerals in any of the streams or waters of this Commonwealth other 

than such as may be used for the water supply of any city or town. 

3. This act shall take effect fifteen days after its passage. 

WASHINGTON. 

[Ballinger's Annotated Codes and Statutes, including acts of 1897.] 

NUISANCES. Sec. 3085. It is a public nuisance: 

* * * * * * * 

2. To throw or deposit any offal or other offensive matter, or the 

carcass of any dead animal, in any water course, stream, lake, pond, 

spring, well, or common sewer, street or public highway, or in any 

manner to corrupt or render unwholesome or impure the water of 

any such spring, stream, pond, lake, or well, to the injury or prejudice of others. 

Punishment provided in section 3097. 

[Acts of 1899, Chap. LXX, p. 114: Providing for a pure water supply.] 

AN ACT to preserve from pollution the water supplied to the inhabitants of cities 

and towns in the State of Washington; to declare what are nuisances in the 

vicinity of the source of such water supply; providing for the abatement 

thereof, and for the punishment of the violations of this act. 

Be it enacted by the leg'islature of the State of Washington: 

SECTION 1. That for the purpose of protecting the water furnished 

to the inhabitants of towns and cities within this State from pollution, 

tho said towns and cities are hereby given jurisdiction over' all property occupied by the works, reservoirs, systems, springs, branches, 

and pipes by means of which, and of all sources of supply from which, 

such cities or the companies or individuals furnishing water to the 

inhabitants of such cities or towns obtain their supply of water, or 

store or conduct the same. 

SEC. 2. That the establishment or maintenance of any slaughter 

pen; stock-feeding yards, hog pens, or the deposit or maintenance of 

any uncleanly or unwholesome substance, or the conduct of any· busi-
54 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND· WATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

ness or occupation, or the allowing of any condition upon or sufficiently near the sources from which the supply of water for the 

inhabitants of any such city or town is obtained, or where such 

water is stored, or the property or means through which the same 

may be conducted or conveyed, so that such water would be polluted 

or the purity of such water or any part thereof destroyedor endangered, is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful, and is 

hereby declared to be and constitute a nuisance, and as such to be 

abated as other nuisances are abated under the provisions of the 

existing laws of the State of Washington, or under the laws which 

may be hereafter enacted in relation to the abatement thereof; and 

that any person or persons who shall do, establish, maintain, or 

create any of the things hereby prohibited for the purpose of or 

which shall have the effect of polluting any such sources of water 

supply or water, or shall do any of the things hereby declared to be 

unlawful, shall he deemed guilty of creating and maintaining a 

nuisance, and may he prosecuted therefor, and upon conviction 

thereof may he fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars. 

SEC. 3. If upon the trial of any person or persons for the violation 

of any of the provisions of this act such person or persons shall be 

found guilty of creating or maintaining a nuisance as hereby defined 

or of violating any of the provisions of this act, it shall he the duty 

of su~h person or persons to forthwith abate such nuisance, and in 

the event of their failure so to do within one day after such conviction, unless further time he granted by the court, a warrant shall he 

issued by the court wherein such conviction was obtained directed 

to the sheriff of the county in which such nuisance exists, and the 

sheriff shall forthwith proceed to abate the said nuisance, and the cost 

thereof shall he taxed against the party so convicted as a part of the 

costs of such case. 

SEC. 4. It is hereby made the duty of the city health officer, city 

physician, board •of public health, mayor of the city, or t?UCh other 

officf'r as may have the sanitary condition of such city or town in 

charge, to see that the provisionsof this act are enforced, and, upon 

complaint being made to any such officer, to immediately investigate 

the said complaint and see if the same shall appear to he well founded; 

and if the same shall appear to be well founded, it shall be, and is 

hereby, declared to be the duty of such officer to proceed and file a complaint against the person or persons violating any of the provisions of 

this act and cause the arrest and prosecution of such person or persons. 

SEC. 5. That any city supplied with water from any source of supply as hereinbefore mentioned, or any corporation owning water 

works for the purpose of supplying any city or the inhabitants thereof 

with water, in the event that any of the provisions of this act are 

being violated by any person, may, by ~ivil action in the superior 
GOODELL.] GENERAL STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-WEST VtRGINIA. 55 

court of the proper county, have the maintenance of the nuisance 

which pollutes or tends to pollute the said water, as provided for by 

section 2 of this act, enjoined, and such injunction may be perpetual. 

WEST VIRGINIA. 

[Code of West Virginia, 1891, p. 933.] 

OFFENCES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH-MISDEMEANOR TO PUT DEAD ANIMALS, ETC,, 

INTO WATER USED FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES. 

If any person or persons shall knowingly and willfully throw or 

caus·e to be thrown into any well, cistern, spring, brook; or branch of 

running water which is used for domestic purposes, any dead animal, 

carcass, or part thereof, or any putrid, nauseous, or offensive substance, he or they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than 

one hundred dollars, and may, at the discretion of the jury, be confined in the jail of the county not exceeding ninety days, and shall 

moreover be liable to the party injured in a civil act.ion for damages. 

(Acts 1872-73, ch. 176.) 

PREVENTING THE DEPOSIT OF THE CARCASSES OF DEAD ANIMALS AND OTHER 

NOXIOUS MATTER IN CERTAIN WATERS OF THE STATE, ETC. 

It shall be unlawful to put the carcass of any dead animal, or the 

offal from any slaughterhouse, butcher's establishment, or packing 

house, or slop or other refuse from any hotel or a tavern, or any 

spoiled meats or spoiled fish, or any putrid animal substance, or the 

contents of any privy vault, upon or in-to any river, creek, or other 

stream within this State, or upon the surface of any road, street, alley, 

city lot, public ground, market space, or common, or on the surface 

within one hundred feet of any public road. 

III. A justice of the peace shall have jurisdiction of any offence 

against the provisions of this act, committed within his county. Any 

such offence shall be punished by a fine of not less than five or mo:·e 

than fifty dollars, and the proceedings in the case, as well as in all 

other cases under this act, shall be in conformity with sections 221 to 

230, inclusive, or chapter 50 of the Code of West Virginia, which sections are hereby made. applicable to such cases. Upon a conviction 

for any such offence the accused must bury at least three feet under 

the ground, or destroy by fire, any of the things named in the first 

section which he has placed in any of the waters or places nanied in 

such section, or which he has knowingly permitted to remain upon a 

city lot, public ground, market. space, or common, contrary to the 

provisions of the second section, within twenty-four hours after such 

conviction, and if he shall fail to do so, the justice shall further fine 

him not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars. (Acts 1887, ch. 25.) 
56 LAWS FOR:BIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

WYOMING. 

[Revised Statutes, 1899.] 

CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON. 

SEC. 4966. Poisoning springs.-Whoever poisons any spring; well, 

cistern, or reservoir of water with intent to injure or kill any human 

being, shall be imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than. fourteen 

years. 

CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY. 

SEC. 5114. Putting offensive substances in creek or highway declared 

a nuisance.-If any person or persons, association of persons, company, or corporation shall deposit, place, or put, or cause to be deposited, placed, or put, upon or into any river, creek, bay, pond, canal, 

ditch, lake, stream, railroad, public or private road, highway, street, 

alley, lot, field, meadow, public place or public ground, common, 

market place, or in any other and different locality in this State, 

where the same may become a source of annoyance to any person or 

detrimental to the public health, the carcass of any dead animal, or 

the offal or refuse matter from any slaughterhouse, butcher's establishment, meat market, packing house, fish house, hogpen, stable, or 

any spoiled meats, spoiled fish, or any animal or vegetable matter in 

a putrid or decayed state, or liable to become putrid, decayed, or 

offensive, or the contents of any privy vault, or any offensive matter 

or substance whatever, or shall cause to be maintained any privy, 

slaughterhouse, meat market, or any other or different place, building, or establishment that shall directly or indirectly be the cause of 

polluting the waters of any spring, reservoir, stream, lake, or water 

supply used wholly or partly for domestic purposes, or if the owner 

or owners, tenant or tenants, occupant or occupants of any lands or 

tenements, dwellings, or places of business, or any other and different 

places or localities, whether defined in t.his section or not, shall knowingly permit any of the said offensive matters or substances, or any 

other and different offensive matter or substances, to remain in any 

of the aforesaid places or other and different places or localities, or 

shall permit any of the aforesaid places to be maintained which shall 

cause the pollution of any stream, spring, reservoir, lake, or water 

supply, either directly or indirectly, in any locality, place, or situation in this State, to the annoyance of the citizens or residents of this 

State, or any of them, or to the detriment of the public health, or who 

shall neglect or refuse to remove or abate the nuisance, offence, or 

inconvenience occasioned or caused thereby, within twenty-four hours 

after knowledge of the existence of such nuisance, offence, or inconvenience, in or upon any of the above-described premises or places, 

or any other and different place or locality, owned or occupied by 

him, her, it, or theya, or after notice in writing from the sheriff, deputy 

a So in orjginal. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-CONNEOTICUT. 57 

sheriff; or coroner of any county in this State, or the constable of any 

precinct, or the marshall or any of the policemen of any city, town, 

or village in which such nuisance shall exist, or from any peace officer 

in this State of, the locality wherein such nuisance shall exist, every 

such person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 

conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten 

dollars nor more than fifty dollars, and if such nuisance is not abated 

within forty-eight hours after the same is created or exists to the 

knowledge of such offender, or within forty-eight hours after said 

written notice is given, such failure to abate such nuisance shall be 

deemed a second offence against the provisions of this section, and 

every like failure and neglect to abate such nuisance of each twentyfour hours thereafter shall be considered an additional offence, and 

shall be subject to a like penalty as is herein provided. 

SEC. 5115. Abatement of nuisance.-Provides that officer shall 

remove nuisance, on neglect of owners so to do, expenses collectible 

in civil action. 

SEC. 5116. Throwing sawdust into streams.-If any person or persons who may own, run, or have charge of any sawmill in this State 

shall throw or permit the sawdust therefrom to be thrown or placed 

in any manner into any river, stream, creek, bay, pond, lake, canal, 

ditch, or other water course in this State, such person or persons shall 

be liable to a like penalty as is provided in section 5114. 

CLASS III: STATES WITH SEVERE RESTRICTIONS. 

This group consists of those States which have adopted unusual 

and stringent methods to enforce the right of their citizens to unpolluted natural waters. The adoption of the legislation embodied in 

the following pages under this group indicates that the inhabitants 

of the States in which these laws have been adopted have begun to 

realize the immense harm which the increased pollution of waters, 

owing to increase of population, is doing to persons and property 

within their borders. It is noticeable that in several of the States 

stringent methods are adopted by which pollution by cities can be 

regulated and controlled; while in at least one State (New Jersey) a 

system has been instituted which, carried to its logical conclusion, 

will result in conveying all sewage matter from cities and large towns 

so far beyond the borders of the land as to render it wholly inoffensive or in some other way preventing- its getting into any inland 

waters in an offensive form. 

CONNECTICUT. 

[General Statutes, revision of 1902, p. 668.) 

SEC, 2593. Pollution of water from which ice is taken.-Every person 

who shall put any substance into waters from which ice is procured 

for consumption which shall defile, pollute, or injure the quality of 
58 LAWS FORBIDDING tNt,.AND·W ATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

said icc, or who shall throw anything into such waters or upon the 

ice with intent to injure the quality of the ice or obstruct the cutting 

m· gathering of the same, shall be fined not more than thirty dollars 

or imprisoned not more than thirty days. This section shall not affect 

the rights of any manufacturing establishment now existing or hereafter established to use any waters in carrying on its business. 

SEC. 2594. Pollution of waters.-Every person who shall put or leave 

a dead animal or carcass in a pond, spring, or reservoir the water of 

which is conveyed to any building, or who shall wilfully put and leave 

in any of the waters of this State a dead animal, shall be fined not 

more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days. 

SEC. 2595. Penalty for polluting drinking water.-Every person who 

shall put anything into a well, spring, fountain, or cistern, or other 

place from which water is p;ocured for drinking or other purposes, 

with the intent to injure the quality of said water, shall be fined not 

more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than six 

months. 

SEC. 2596. Analysis of water.-Town, borough, and city health officers shall, when in their judgment health is menaced or impaired 

through a water supply, send, subject to the approval of the county 

health officer, samples of such water to the State board of health for 

examination and analysis, and the expense of such examination and 

~ analysis shall be paid out of the funds appropriated to said board to 

investigate the pollution of streams. 

SEc. 2598. Location Of cemeteries.-N o cemetery or place of sepulture shall hereafter be-located or established within one-half mile of 

any reservoir from which the inhabitants of a town, city, or borough 

are supplied with water; nor shall such reservoir be located or established within one-half mile of a cemetery or place of sepulture unless 

the superior court of the county wherein such cemetery or place of 

sepulture or reservoir is locatPd shall, upon application or notice find 

that such cemetery or place of sepulture or such reservoir so proposed 

to be loca ed is of public convenience and necessity and will not be 

detrimental to the public health. 

SEC. 2602. Pollution of reservoirs-Penalty.-N o person, after notice 

shall have been posted that any reservoir, or any lake, pond, or stream 

tributary thereto, is used for supplying. the inhabitants of a town, 

city, or borough with water, shall wash any animal, clothing, or other 

article therein. No person shall throw any noxious or harmful substance into such reservoir, lake, pond, or stream, nor shall any person, after receipt of written notice from any county or town health 

officer having jurisdiction that the same is detrimental to such water 

supply, suffer any such substance to be placed upon land owned, 

occupied, or controlled by him, so that the s·ame may be carried by 

rains or freshets into the water of such reservoir, lake, pond, stream, 

or drain, or allow to be drained any sewage from said land into such 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-OONNEOTIOUT. 59 

water.,. ·Every person who shall violate any provision of this section 

shall be fined not, more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not 

more than thirty days, or both. 

SEc. 2603. Appointment of special police.-The governor may, upon 

the application of such town, borough, city, or company, commission 

during his pleasure one or more persons who, having been sworn, 

may act as policemen for the purpose of preventing and abating 

. puisances and protecting such water supply from contamination. 

Such policemen shall arrest without previous complaint and warrant 

any person for any offense under the:> provisions of any law for t,he 

protection of water supplies when the offender shall be taken or 

apprehended in the act or on the speedy information of others; and 

all persons so arrested shall be immediately presented before proper 

authority. Every such policeman shall, when on duty, wear in plain 

view a shield bearing the words "Special police" and the name of 

the town, city, borough, or company for whieh he' is commissioned. 

[Acts of 1903, chap. 192, p. 148.] 

AN ACT concerning injunctions. 

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general 

assembly convened. 

SECTION L Section 2599 of the General Statutes is hereby amended 

to read as follows: ·whenever any land or building is so used, occupied or suffered to remain, that it is a source of injury to the water 

stored in a reservoir used for supplying a town, city, or borough with 

water, or· to any source of supply to such reservoir, or when such 

water is liable to pollution in consequence of the use of the same, 

either the authorities of such town, city, or borough, or the cpmpany 

having charge of said water, may apply to the superior court, or any 

judge thereof in vacation, in the county in which said town, city, 

borough, or company is located, for relief; and 8aid court or judge 

may order the removal ofany building, enjoin any use or occupation 

of any land or building or of said water which is detrimental to said 

water, or make any other order, temporary or permanent, which in 

its 'Or his judgment may be necessary to preserve the purity of said 

water. Said town, city, borough or company may, by its officers or 

agents, dulyappojnted for such purpose, at all reasonable times enter 

upon and inspect any premises within the watershed tributary to such 

water supply, ahd in case any nuisance shall be found thereon which 

pollutes or is likely to pollute such water, may abate such nuisance 

at its· own expense after reasonable notice to the owner or occupant 

of said premises and upon his neglect or refusal to abate the same; 

but such town, city, borough, or company shall be liable for all unnecessary or unreasonable damage done to said premises. 

SEC. 2. Section 2600 of the General Statutes is hereby amended to 

read as follows: Any city, town, borough, or corporation authorized 
60 J,AWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. '(NO. 103. 

by law to supply the inhabitants of any city, town, or borough with. 

pure water for public or domestic use may take and use such lands, 

springs, st,reams, or ponds, or such rights or interests therein as the 

superior court or any judge thereof in vacation may, on application, 

deem necessary for the purposes of such supply. For the purpose of 

preserving the purity of such water and preventing any contamination thereof, such city, town, borough, or corporation may take such 

lands or rights as the superior court or any judge thereof in vacation 

may, on application, deem necessary therefor. Compensation shall 

be made to all persons entitled thereto in the manner pr0vided by 

section 2601. 

SEC. 3. Section 2601 of the General Statutes is hereby amended to 

read as follows: In all cases where the law requires compensation to 

be made to any person whose rights, interests, or property are injuriously affected by said orders, such court or judge shall appoint a committee of three disinterested freeholders of the county who shall 

determine and award the amount to be paid by such authorities before 

such order is carried into effect. 

Approved June 18, 1903. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

[Revised laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, enacted November 21, 1901, taking effect 

January 1, 1902, chap. 75, p. 677.] 

OF THE PRESERVATION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 

SEC. 112. Supervision of inland waters.-The Stat.e board of health 

shall have the general oversight and care of all inland waters and of 

all streams and ponds used by any city, town, or public institution, 

or by any water or ice company, in this Commonwealth as sources of 

water supply, and of all springs, streams, and water courses tributary thereto. It shall be provided with maps, plans, and documents 

suitable for such purposes and shall keep records of all its transactions relative thereto. 

SEC. 113. Examination of water supply.-Said board may cause 

examinations of such waters to be made to aE!certain their purity and 

fitness for domestic use or their liability to impair the interests of the 

public or of persons lawfully using them or to impair the public 

health. It may make rules and regulations to prevent the pollution 

and to secure the sanitary prot.ection of all such waters as are used 

as sources of water supply. 

SEC. 114. Effect of pnblication of notice.-The publication of an 

order, rule, or regulation made by the board under the provisions of 

the preceding section, or section one hundred and eighteen, in a newspaper of the city or town in which such order, rule, or regulation is 

to take effect, or, if no newspaper is published in such city or town, 

the posting of a copy of such order, rule, or regulation in a public 

place in such city or town, shall be legal notice to all ~ersons, and an 
aoonELJ...] SEVERE ST.ATUTE RESTRICTIONS~M.ASS.ACHUSETTS. 61 

affidavit of such publication or posting by the person causing such 

notice to be published or posted, filed and recorded with a copy of the 

notice in the office of the clerk of such city or town, shall be admitted 

as evidence of the time at which, and the place and manner in which, 

the notice was given. 

SEC. 115. Report and recommendations.-Said board shall annually, 

on or before the tenth day of January, make a report to the general 

court of its doings for the preceding year, recommend measures for 

the prevention of the pollution of such waters, and for the removal of 

polluting substances in order to protect and develop the rights and 

property of the Commonwealth therein and to protect the public 

health, and recommend any legislation or plans for systems of main 

sewers nec~ssary for the preservation of the public health and for the 

purification and prevention· of pollution of the ponds, streams, and 

inland waters of the Commonwealth. It shall also give notice to the 

attorney-general of any violation of law relative to the pollution of 

water supplies and inland waters. 

SEC. 116. Agents and assistants.-Said boa.rd may appoint, employ, 

and fix the compensation of such agents, clerks, servants, engineers, 

and expert assistants as it considers necessary. Such agents and 

servants shall cause the provisions of law reiative to the pollution of 

water supply and of the rules and regulations of said board to be 

enforced. 

SEc. 117. Advice as to methods.-Said board shall consult with and 

advise the authorities of cities and towns and persons having, or about 

to have, systems of water supply, drainage, or sewerage as to the most 

appropriate source of water supply, and the best method of assuring 

its purity or as to the best method of disposing of their drainage or 

sewage with reference to the existing and future needs of other cities, 

towns, or persons which may be affected thereby. It shall also consult with and advise persons engaged or intending to engage in any 

manufacturing or other·business whose drainage or sewage may tend 

to pollute any inland water as to the best method of preventing such 

pollution, and it may conduct .experiments to determine the best 

methods of the purification or disposal of drainage or sewage. No 

person shall be required to bear the expense of si1eh consultation, 

advice, or experiments. Cities, towns, and persons shall submit to 

said board, for its advice, thefr proposed system of water supply or of 

the disposal of drainage or sewage, and all petitions to the general 

court for authority to introduce a system of water supply, drainage, 

or sewerage shall be accompanied by a copy of the recommendation 

and advice of said board thereon. In this section the term "drainage" means rainfall, surface and subsoil water only, and "sewage" 

means domestic and manufactur~ng filth and refuse. 

SEC. 118. Removal of causes of pollution.-Upon petition to said 

board by the mayor of a city or the selectmen of a town, the manag-
62 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATBR POLLUTION. (NO. 103. 

ing board or officer of any public institution, or by a board of. water 

commissioners, or the president of a water or ice company, stating 

that manure~ excrement, garbage, sewage, or any other matter· pollutes or tends to pollute the waters of any stream, pond, spring, or 

·watercourse used by such city, town, institution, or company as a 

source of water supply, the board shall appoint a time and place 

within the county where the nuisance or pollution is alleged to exist, 

for a hearing, and after notice thereof to parties interested and a 

hearing, if in its judgment the public health so requires, shall by an 

order served upon the party causing or permitting such pollution, 

prohibit the. deposit, keeping, or discharge of any such cause of pol· 

lution, and shall order him to desist therefrom and to· remove any . 

such cause of pollution; but the board shall not prohibit the cultivation and use of the soil in the ordinary methods of agriculture if no 

human excrement is used thereon. Said board shall not prohibit the 

use of any structure which was in existence on the eleventh day of 

June, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, upon a complaint made by the board of water commissioners of any city or town 

or by any water or ice company unless such board of water commis.-

sioners or company files with the State board a vote of its city council, 

selectmen, or company, respectively, that such city, town, or company 

will, at its own expense, make such changes in said structure or its 

location a~ said board shall deem expedient. Such vote shall be binding on such city, town, or company. All damages caused by such 

changes shall be paid by such city, tqwn, or company; and if the par" 

ties can not agree thereon, the damages shall, on petition of either 

party, filed within one year Mter such changes are made, be assessed 

by a jury in the superior court for the county where the structure is 

located. · 

SEc. 119. Appeal from order.-Whoever is aggrieved by an order 

passed under the provisions of tli.e preceding section may appeal 

therefrom in the manner provided in sections 95 and 97, but such 

notice as the court shall order shall. also be given to the. board of 

water commissioners and mayor of the city or chairmen of the selectmen of the town or president or other officer of the water or ice company interested in such order. While the appeal is pending the order 

of the board shall be complied with, unless otherwise authorized by 

the board. · 

SEc. 120. Enforcement oflaw.-The supreme judicial court or the 

superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, upon the application 

of the State board of healt~ or of any party interested, to enforce its 

orders or the orders, rules, and :regulations of said board of health, 

and to restrain the use or occupation of the premises or such portion 

thereof as said board may specify, on which said material is deposited 

or kept, or such other cause of pollution exists, until the orders, rules, 

and regulations of said board have been complied with. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STA'J.1UTE RESTRICTIONS-MASSACHUSETTS. 63 

SEc. 121. Entry on ,premises.-The agents and servants of said 

board may enter any building, structure, or premises for the purpose 

of ascertaining whether sources of pollution or danger to the water 

supply there exist, and whether the rules, regulations, and orders 

aforesaid are obeyed. Their compensation for services rendered in 

connection with proceedings under the provisions of section 118 shall 

be fixed by the board and shall in the first instance be paid by the 

Commonwealth; but the whole amount so paid shall, at the end of each 

year, be justly and equitably apportioned by the tax commissioner 

between such cities, towns, or companies as, during said year, have 

instituted said proceedings, and may be recovered in an action by t,he 

treasurer and receiver-general, with interest from the date of the 

demand. 

SEC. 122. Penalties.-Whoever violates any rule, regulation, or 

order made under the provisions of section 113 or section 118 shall be 

punished for each offence by a fine of not more than five hundred 

dollars, to the use of the Commonwealth, or by imprisonment for not 

more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 

SEC. 123. Application of preceding sections.-'l'he provisions of the 

eleven preceding sections shall not apply to the Merrimac or Connecticut rivers, nor to so much of the Concord River ae lies within the 

limits of the city of Lowell, nor to springs, streams, ponds, or water 

courses over which the metropolitan water board has control. 

SEC. 124. Sources of water. supply-as to.-No sewage, drainage, 

refuse, or polluting matter of such kind and amount as either by 

itself or in connection with other matter will corrupt or impair the 

quality of the water of any pond or stream used as a source of ice or 

water supply by a city, town, public institution, or water company 

for domestic use, or render it injurious to health, and no human 

excrement shall be discharged into any such stream or pond, or upon 

their banks if any filter basin so used is there situated, or into any 

feeders of such pond or stream within twenty miles above the point 

where such supply is taken. 

SEC. 125.-Prescriptive rights unaffected-application limited.-The 

provisions of the preceding section shall not destroy or impair rights 

acquired by legislative grant prior to the first day of July in the year 

1878, or destroy or impair prescriptive rights of drainage or discharge, 

to the extent to which they lawfully existed on that date; nor shall 

it be applicable to the Merrimac or Connecticut rivers, or to so much 

of the Concord River as lies within the limits of the city of Lowell. 

SEC. 126. Ir~;junction against pollution of water sttpply.-The 

supreme judicial court or the superior court, upon application of the 

mayor of a city, the selectmen of a town, managing board or officer of 

a public institution, or a water or ice company interested, shall have 

jurisdiction in equity to enjoin the violation of the provisions of 

sec. 124. 
64 L.AWS FORBIDDING INL.AND·W.ATER POLLUTION. [N0.103. 

SEC. 127. Penalty for corrupting spring, etc.-Whoever willfully 

'and maliciously defiles or corrupts any "spring or other ~source of 

water, or reservoir, or destroys or injures any pipe, conductor of 

water, or other property pertaining to an aqueduct, or aids or abets 

in any such trespass, shall be punished by a fine of not more than 

one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year. 

SEc. 128. Penalty for corrupting sources of water suppZy.-Whoever willfully deposits excrement or foul or decaying matter in water 

which is used for the purpose of domestic water supply, or upon the 

shore thereof within five rods of the water, shall be punished by a 

fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more 

than thirty days; and a police officer or constable of a city or town in 

which such water is wholly or partly situated, acting within the limits 

of his city or town, and any executive officer or agent of a water 

board, board of water commissioners, public institution, or water 

company furnishing water or ice for domestic purposes, acting upon 

the premises of such board, institution, or company, and not more 

than five rodH from the water, may without a warrant arrest any 

person found in the act of violating the provisions of this section and 

detain him until a complaint can be made against him therefor. But 

the provisions of this section shall not interfere with the sewage of a 

city, town, or public institution, or prevent the enriching of land for 

agricultural purposes by the owner or occupant thereof. 

SEC. 129. Penalty for bathing in public ponds.-Whoever bathes in 

a pond, stream, or reservoir the water of which is used for the purpose of domestic water supply for a city or town, shall be punished 

by a fine of not more than ten dollars. 

SEc. 130. Penalty for driving on ice of pond used for water supply.-

Whoever, not being engaged in cutting or harvesting ice, orin hauling 

logs, wood, or lumber, drives any animal on the ice of a pond or 

stream which is used for the purpose of domestic water supply for a 

city or town shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars 

or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days. 

NoTE.-Sections 95 and 97, referred to in section 119, provide for 

an appeal to the superior court of the county and a jury trial. The 

verdict may alter, affirm, or annul the order, and shall be returned 

to the court for acceptance, and, if accepted, shall have the authority 

and effect of a valid order of the board. 

MINNESOTA. 

[General Statutes, p. 100.] 

SEc. 430. Pollution of sources of water supply forbidden.-No sewage, drainage, or refuse, or polluting matter of such kind as, either 

by itself or in connection with other matter, will corrupt or impair the 

quality of the water of any spring, well, pond, lake, stream, or river 

for domestic use, or render it injurious to health, and no human or 

animal excrement shall be placed in or discharged into, or placed or 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-MINNESOTA. 65 

deposited upon the ice of any pmi.d, lake, stream, or river used as ·a 

source of water supply by any town, village, or city; nor shall any 

such sewage, drainage, refuse, or polluting matter or excrement be 

placed upon the banks of any such pond, lake, stream, or river within 

five miles above the point where such supply is taken, or into any 

feeders or the banks thereof, of any such pond, lake, stream, or river: 

Pro'Vided; nothing in this section contained shall apply to Lake Superior. (1885. Chap. 225, sec. 1.} 

SEC. 431. Supervision of sources of water supply-procedure in cases 

ofpollution.-The State board of health shall have the general supervision of all springs; wells, ponds, lakes, streams, or rivers used by 

any town, village, or city as a source of water supply, with reference 

to their purity, together with the waters feeding the same, and shall 

examine the same from time to time, an"d inquire wliat, if any, pollution exists and their causes. In case of a violation of any of the provisions of section one of this ac.t (sec. 430} said board may appoint a 

time. and place for hearing parties to be affected, and shall give due 

notice thereof, as hereinafter provided, to such parties; and after such 

hearing, if in its judgment the public health requires it, may orderany person or corporation, or municipal corporation, to desist from the 

acts causing such pollution, and may direct any such person or corporation to r"emedy the pollution, or to cleanse or purify the polluting 

substances in such a manner and to such a degree as shall be directed 

by said board, before being cast or allowed' to flow into the waters 

thereby polluted, or placed or deposited upon the ice or banks of any. 

of the bodies of water in the first section of this act mentioned. Upqn 

the application of the proper officers of any town, village, or eity, or 

of not less than ten legal voters of any such town, village, or city, to 

said State board, alleging the pollution of the water supply of any 

such town, village, or city by the violation of any of the provisions 

of this act, said. State board Rhall investigate the alleged pollution, 

and shall appoint a time and place when and where it will hear and 

examine the matter, and shall give notice of such hearing and examination to the complainant, .and also to the person or corporation or 

municipal corporation alleged to have caused such pollution, and 

such notice shall be served not less than ten days prior to the time so 

appointed, and shall be served in the same manner that now is or 

hereafter may be by law provided for the service of a summons in a 

civil action in the diRtrict court. Said board, if in its judgment any 

of the provisions of tliis act have been violated, shall issue the order 

or orders already mentioned in this section. (1885. Chap. 225, sec. 2.) 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

[Public statutes of New Hampshire and genera.llaws fn force Jan. 1, 1901, p. 337, chap. 108. (Wm. · · · · M. arid Arthur H. Cliase.)] 

·Section 13, entitled "The prevention and removal of nuisances," is 

as follows: 1' If h person shall place, leave, or cause to be placed or left 

lRR 103-04-5 
66 ~AWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLI .. UTION. [No.1.03. 

in or near a lake, pond, reservoir, or stream tributary thereto, from 

which the water supply for domestic purposes of -a city, town, or village is taken, in whole or in part, any•substance or fluid that may 

cause the water thereof to become impure or unfit for such purposes, 

he shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars or be imprisoned not 

exceeding thirty .days, or both." 

SEC. 14. The board of health of the town or the water commissioners 

having charge of the water supply or the ·proprietors thereof may 

remove such substance or fluid, and they may recover the expense of 

removal from the person who placed the same or caused it to be 

placed in or near the water as aforesaid in an action on the case. 

[Laws of 1895, chap. 76, p. 433.] 

AN ACT to protect waters used for domestic purposes. 

Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives in general 

cottrt convened: 

SECTION 1. Whoever knowingly and wilfully poisoils, defiles, pollutes, or in any way corrupts the waters or ice of any well, spring, 

brook, lake, pond, river, or reservoir used as the source of a public 

. water or ice supply for domestic purposes, or knowingly corrupts the 

sources of the water of any water company or of any city ?r town supplying its inhabit,ants with water, or the tributaries of said sources of 

supply, in such a manner as to affect the purity of the water or ice so 

supplied at the point where the water or ice is taken for such domestic use, or puts the carcass of any dead animal or other offensive 

material into said waters or upon the ice thereof, shall be punished 

by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by imprisonment not 

exceeding one year. The provisions of this section shall not apply to. 

the deposit of any bark, sawdust, or any other waste of any kind 

arising from the business of cutting, hauling, driving, or storing logs, 

or the manufacture of lumber; and the use of any stream for the 

purposes of manufacturing and for the necessary drainage connected 

therewith, if more than four miles distant from the point where the 

water is taken for such domestic purposes, shall not be deemed a violation of this section. . 

SEC. 2. No person shall cut or take ice from any lake, pond, or reservoir used as the source of a public water or ice supply for domestic 

purposes for man, unless he first shall comply in all respects with 

such reasonable rules and regulations in regard to the manner and 

place of cutting and taking such ice on said hike, pond, or reservoir 

as may be prescribed by the local board of control or officers of a 

water company who may have charge of the works of any city or town 

supplying its inhabitants with water from said lake, pond, or reservoir. The supreme court shall have power to issue injunctions 

restraining any person from cutting or taking ice from such lakes, 

ponds, or reservoirs until they h~ve complied with the reasonable 

· regulations made as aforesaid .. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-·-NEW HAMPSHIRE. 67 

·SEC. 3. Said local boards and officers may also make all reasonable 

rules and regulations in regard to fishing and the use of boats in and 

upon any such lake, pond, or reservoir, and in regard to racing or 

speeding horses upon the ice thereof, which they may deem expedient. 

Any person who shall violate any of said rules and regulations after 

notice thereof shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months. 

SEC. 4. If any person shall bathe in such lake, pond, or reservoir 

within one-fourth mile of the point where said water is taken, he 

shall be fined not exceeding twenty dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months. 

SEC. 5. Whoever shall wilfully injure any of the property of any 

water company or of any city or town, used by it in supplying water 

to its inhabitants, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year; and such 

person shall also forfeit and pay to such water company, city, or 

town three times the amount of actual damages sustained, to be 

recovered in an action on the case. 

SEC. 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are 

hereby rep<mled, but nothing in this act shall be construed to repeal 

any special act applying to cities and towns. 

[Laws of 1897, chap. 85, p. 82.] 

SECTION 1. It shall be the duty of boards of health of the cities and 

towns of the State to examine and inspect the sources from which ice 

is cut, or is proposed· to be cut, for domestic use in such cities and 

towns, and to employ such means as may be necessary to determine 

whether the waters of such sources of ice supply have been polluted, \ . . 

or whether "ice taken therefrom will be deleterious to the public 

health. 

SEc. 2. In each case where the waters of the sources of ice supplies 

shall be found so polluted that the ice taken therefrom will be 

unhealthy or unsaJe for domestic use, the board of health of the city 

or town concerned in the same shall immediately notify such ·person 

or persons as may have taken, or who propose to take ice from such 

polluted source for their own domestic use or for sale for domestic 

use, of the dangerous character of the waters inspected and that the 

taking of such ice for domestic use must cease. 

SEC. 3. Whoever knowingly or wilfully shall cut or take any ice for 

domestic purposes from any waters which are· polluted with sewage or 

other substance deleterious or dangerous to life or health, or from 

waters which a board of health has. condemned, shall be fined not 

exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars or imprisoned not exceeding 

six months. 

[_,\,cts of 1899, chap. 57.] 

SECTION 1. Whenever any b~ard of wat~r commissioners, local 

l;Joa,rd of }lea,lth1 or ~en ~:n; w,o~~ Q!tizens of any town or city ha,ve re~:~J-
6S LAWS FORBIDDING .INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No. lOS. 

son to believe that a pUblic water or ice supply is being contaridnated 

or is in danger of contamination, and that the local regulations are 

not sufficient or effective to prevent such pollution, they may petition 

. the State board of health to investigate the case and to establish such 

regulations as the said board may deem necessary for the protection 

of the said supply against any pollution that in its jndgrileri.t would 

endanger the public health. · 

. SEc. 2. The State ·board of health shall, after due investigation, 

make such regulations as it may deem best· to protect the said supply 

against any dangerous contamination, and the regulations so made 

shall be in force when a copy is filed with the town clerk and posted 

in two or more public places in said town, or published in some newspaper in the. county, and it shall be the duty of the local board of 

health to enforce said regulations. 

SEC. 3. Any person violating any regulation established by the 

State board of health shall be punished by a fine of twenty dollars 

for each offence, and a certified copy under oath of such regulation, 

made by the secretary of . the State board of health or by the to~n 

clerk where the regulations are filed, shall be received as prima facie 

evidence of such regulations in any court of the State. . 

NEW JERSEY. 

[General Statutes, p. llOil.] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution of the waters of any of the creeks, ponds, or 

brooks of this State. (Approved March 29, 1878.) · 

. 322. SECTION 1. That if any person or persons shall throw, cause or 

permit to be thrown, into the waters of any creek, pond, or brook of 

this St.ate, the waters of which may be used for the cutting or harvesting of ice, any carcasses of any dead animal or any offal or offensive 

matter whatsoever, calculated to render said waters impure or create 

noxious or offensive smells, or shall connect any water-closet with any 

sewer or other means whereby the contents thereof may be conveyed 

to and into any such creek, pond, or brook, shall be deemed guilty of 

a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof-shall be punished by a fine 

not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding 

thirt.y days, or both. 

[2 Gen':lra.l Statutes, p. 2211, at p. 2215.] 

AN ACT to enable towns and townships in this State to construct water works 

for the extinguishment of fires and supplying the i.Dhlibitants thereof with pure 

and wholesome water. (Approved March 9, 1893.) 

419. SEC. 13. That if any person or persons shall willfully pollute 

or adulterate the waters in any reservoir erected under the provisions 

of this act, any person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,· and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not 
GMDELL.] SEVERE S't'.A.TUTE REE;TRfCTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 69 

exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment at hard labor not 

exceeding three years, or both, at the discretion of the court before 

whom such conviction shall be had. 

[General Statutes, p. 1107.] 

Supplement to an act to prevent the willful pollution of waters of any of the 

creeks, ponds, or brooks of this State. (Approved February 27, 1880.) 

SECTION 1. (As amended by act ·passed March 14, 1893. General 

Statutes, p. 1107, sec. 311.) That if any person or persons shall throw, 

cause, or permit to be thro~ into any reservoir, or into the waters of 

any creek, pond, or brook of this State which runs through or along 

the border of any city, town, or borough of this State, or the waters of 

which are used to supply any aqueduct or reservoir for distribution 

for public use, any carcass of any dead animal, or any offal or offensive matter whatsoever calculated to render said waters impure, or to 

create noxious or offensive smells, or shall connect any water-closet 

with any sewer, or other means whereby the contents thereof may be 

conveyed to and into any such. creek, pond, or brook, or shall so 

deposit or cause or permit to be deposited any such carcass, offal, or 

other offensive matter that the washing or waste therefrom shall or 

may be conveyed to and into any such creek, pond, brook, or reservoir, such person or persons shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 

and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding 

one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or 

both. 

309. SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of any land whereon any such carcass, offal, or 

other offensive matter may be to c~use the same to be buried forthwith, so that all portions thereof shall be covered with solid earth to 

a depth of at least two feet bel9w the surface of the ground, and not 

within a distance of two hundred feet from such creek, pond, or brook 

used as aforesaid; and any such owner or occupant who shall refuse 

or neglect for the space of two days to remove and bury as aforesaid, 

or cause to be removed and buried, any such carcass, offal, or offensive matter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand 

dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. 

[Laws of 1898, chap. 136, p. 233.] 

AN ACT authorizing the appointment of commissioners to consider the subject of 

the pollution of rivers and streams within this State, to provide a plan for the 

prevention thereof, and for the relief of the persons and property affected 

thereby, and to provide for the expenses necessary for that purpose. 

Be it enacted by the senate and general assembly of the State of New 

Jersey: 

1. The governor of this State shall have power and authority to 

appoint and commission, not less than three·suitable persons, commis-
70 LAWS FORBIDDING INL.AND-W .ATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

sioners to consider the subject of the pollution of any stream or river 

within this State, whose dutyjt shall he, after having duly investigated the cause, character, and extent of such pollution, if they shall 

deem it necessary and expedient, to prepare and per~ect a plan for 

the prevention thereof and for the relief of the persons and property 

affected thereby, and to report their conclusions and present their 

plan to the legislature _of this State, together with a bill providing 

therefor and for the expenses thereof. 

2. Such commissioners, when so appointed, shall organize by the 

selection of one of their number as chairman and one to act as treasurer, and they are authorized to select a clerk and to employ such 

other agents and assistants as may be necessary. The salary and 

compensation of such commissioners shall be fixed by the governor, 

and shall not exceed one thousand dollars each, and they shall have 

power and authority to fix the compensation of their agents and 

assistants. 

3. Such commissioners are authorized to raise and expend for the 

purposes of this act a sum not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars, 

which sum, or such part thereof as may be required and be necessary, 

they are hereby authorized to apportion among the several local 

municipalities which the said commissioners shall deem to be affected 

by such pollution, in proportion to the population of such municipalities as shown by the last State or national census, and the sum or 

sums so apportioned shall be certified by the said commissioners under 

their hands to the assessors or other taxing officers of the said several 

municipalities, and it shall be the duty of the proper taxing officer or 

officers in each of the said municipalities to whom such apportionment is made to proceed to have the same levied and assessed and 

collected in the same manner and at the same time as other taxes are 

levied and collected therein, and it shall be the duty of the colle<;tor 

or other equivalent officer of each of the said municipalities to pay 

over the said several sums of money, when so levied, assessed, and 

collected, to the said commissioners or to such person or persons as 

they may appoint to receive the same, and the said commissioners are 

authorized to use and disburse the same for the purposes of this act. 

4. The commissioners appointed under the authority of· this act 

shall have the power and authority to anticipate the collection and 

receipt of the sums of money hereby authorized to be raised by taxation, and may issue from time to time certificates of indebtedness, or 

other obligations, to be paid from the funds to be raised by taxation 

in the manner herein provideu; and they are authorized to use the 

funds received from the sale or negotiation of such certificates or 

obligations authorized to be issued by this act. 

5. Said commissioners are hereby required, at any time, on the 

order of the governor, to render to him a report and statement of their 

receipts and expenditures under the authority of this act. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 71 

6. Vacancies caused by the death or resignation of .any commissioner appointed under the .authority of this act, or from other cause, 

shall be filled by the governor, and the governor niay remove any of 

the persons so appointed and appoint another commissioner in his 

place. 

7. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Approved April2, 1898. 

[Laws of 1899, chap. 41, p. 73.] 

AN ACT to secure the purity of the public supplies of potable waters in this State. 

Be it enacted by the senate and general assembly of the State of 

New Jersey: 

1. No sewage, drainage, domestic or factory refuse, excremental or 

other ·polluting matter of any kind whatsoever which, either by itself 

or in connection with other matter, will corrupt or impair, or tend to 

corrupt or impair, the quality of the water of any river, brook, stream, 

or any tributary or branch thereof, or of any lake, pond, well, spring, 

or other reservoh· from which is taken, or may be taken, any public 

supply of water for domestic use in any city, town, borough, township, 

or other municipality of this State, or which will render, or tend to 

render, such water injurious to health, shall be placed in, or discharged into. the waters, or placed or deposited upon the ice, of any 

such river, brook, stream, or any tributary or branch thereof, or of 

any lake, pond, well, spring, or other reservoir above the point from 

which any city, town, borough, township, or other municipality shall 

or may obtain its supply of water for domestic use, nor shall any such 

sewage, drainage, domestic or factory refuse, excremental or other 

polluting matter be placed or suffered to remain upon the banks of 

any such river, brook, stream, or of any tributary or branch thereof, 

or of any lake, pond, well, spring, or other reservoir above the point 

from which any city, town, borough, township, or ·other municipality 

. shall or may obtain its supply of water for domestic use as afore~aid; 

and any person or persons, or private or public corporation, which 

shall offend against any . of the provisions of this section shall be 

Hable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offense; and each 

week's continuance, after notice by the State or local board of health 

to abate or remove the same, shall constitute a separate offense: Provided, however, That this section shall not be held to apply to any 

city, town, borough, township, or other municipality of this State 

which, at the date of the passage of this act, has a public sewer or 

system of sewers, drain or system of drains, legally constructed under 

municipal or township authority, discharging its drainage or sewage 

into any such river, brook, stream, lake, pond, well, spring, or other 

reservoir: And provided further, That nothing iil this section contained shall be construed to repeal, modify, or otherwise affect any 

law or statute now conferring upon any local board of health the 
72 L.A. WS FORBIDDING INL.A.ND·WATER POLLUTION. (NO.l03. 

power or authority to institute any proceedings in any court of this 

state for the re~overy of any penalty for, or obtaining any injunction 

against, the pollution of any of the waters of this State. 

2. Any penalty incurred under any of the provisions of the first section of this act may be recovered, with costs, in a summary proceeding, either in the name of the board of health of the State of New 

Jersey or in the name of the· local board of health of the township, 

city, borough, town, or other: local municipal government within 

whose jurisdiction the penalty may have been incurred; it shall be 

the duty of any health inspector, or member of any local board of 

health, who shall know or be informed of any violation of any of the 

proVisions of the first section of this act whereby any penalty may 

have been incurred to niake, and any other person having such knowledge may make, under oath or affirmation, a complaint against the 

person or persons or private or public corporation incurring such penalty, setting forth the facts of such violation, 'vhich ·complaint shall 

be filed in the office of the clerk of the district court, or with any 

justice of the peace of the county within which the offense may have 

been committed, or '\\ith any police justice or recorder of the township, city, or other municipality within which any local board bringing suit shall have jurisdiction; and the district court, justice of the 

peace, police justice, or recorder, with whom any ·complaint shall be 

filed as aforesaid, setting forth facts sufficient to show that the penalty 

prescribed by the first section of this act has been incurred, is hereby 

authorized and required to issue process either in the nature of a summons· or warrant, which process, when in the nature of a warrant, 

shall be returnable forthwith, and when in the nature of a summons 

shall be returnable in not -less than five nor more than fifteen days. 

On the return of such process, or at any time to which the trial shall 

have been adjourned, the said court, justice of the peace, police justice, or recorder shall proceed to hear the testimony of witnesses and 

the proofs in the case, and to determine and give judgment in the 

matter without the filing of any pleadings, and, if judgment shall be 

given in favor of the plaintiff, execution shall forthwith issue against 

the goods a1;1d chattels of the defendant for the amount of the penalty, 

with cost!'!; and all judgments so rendered shall have the same force 

and effect as other judgments in civil actions before civil courts and 

officers, and may be do~keted in like manner in t.he office of the clerk 

of the court of common pleas; the officers to serve and execute ~ny 

process or execution issued as aforesaid shall ~e the constables of the 

counties, which service and execution, iu the case of any execution 

issued out of the district court, shall be made in the same manner and 

under the same liabilities as other executions issued out of said court 

are served and executed; the officers to serve and execute any pr()cess 

or execution issued by a justice of the peace, police justice, or tecorder, 

shall be the constables of the county, which service and execution 

shall be made in the same manner and under the sa;me liabilities as 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 73 

prescribed in cases of the service and execution of processes and executions by the act entitled "An act constituting courts for the trial 

of small causes," and the supplements thereto; all moneys recovered 

in any .such proceeding shall be paid to the plaintiff therein and 

applied by such plaintiff to any purpose for which it may be legally 

authorized to expend money. 

3. The State board of health shall have the general supervision, 

with reference to their purity, of all rivers, brooks, streams, lake!<, 

ponds, wells, springs, or other reservoirs in this State the waters of 

which are or may be used as the source or sources of public water 

supplies for domestic use, together with the waters feeding the same, 

and shall have the authority from time to time, as they deem necessary or proper, to examine the same and to inquire what, if any, pollut-ions exist and their causes; and the said State board of health, in 

carrying out the provisions of this section, may from time to time, as 

they deem it necessary or proper, address inquiries in printed or 

written form to any local board of health, municipal or township 

authority, corporation, or person or persons, which inquiries it shall 

be the duty of the persons or parties addressed to answer within such 

time as the said State board of health may in such inquiries prescribe. 

4. If any person or persons, corporation or corporations, city, town, 

borough, t,ownship, or other municipality of this State, or any municipal or township authority, shall violate any of the provisions of the 

first section of this act, it shall be lawful for the said State board of 

health, instead of proceeding in a summary way to recover the penalty prescribed in said section, to file a bill in the court of chancery, 

in the name of the State, on the relation of such board, for an injunction to prohibit the further violation of the said section, and every 

such action shall proceed in the court of chancery according to the 

rules and practice of bills filed in the name of the attorney-general 

on the relation of individuals, and cases of emergency shall have 

precedence over other litigation pending at the time in the court of 

chancery, and may be heard on final hearing within such time and on 

such notice as the chancellor shall direct. 

5. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this 

act are hereby repealed. . 

6. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Approved March 17, 1899. 

[Laws of 1899, chap: 210, p. 536.] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution of the waters of this State by the establishment 

of a State sewerage commission, and authorizing the creation of sewerage 

·districts and district sewerage boards, and prescribing, defining, and regulating 

the powers and duties of such commission and such boards. 

Be it enacted by the senate and general assembly of the State of New 

Jersey: 

1. It shall be the duty of the governor, within thirty days next succeeding the approval or passage of this act, to appoint, by and with 
74 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No.lOO. 

the advice and consent of the senate, five citizens of this State, to 

compose and be known as "the State sewerage commission." In the 

original nomination of the members of said commission to the senate 

the governor shall designate one of them to serve for one year, and 

two for two yeat:s, and two for three years, and thereafter the members of said commission shall be appointed by the governor, by and 

with the advice and consent of the senate, for the term of three years 

and until their successors ar~ duly appointed, confirmed, and qualified. Any vacancy occurring in said commission when the legislature 

is not in session shall be filled by appointment of the governor until 

the next regular session of the legislature, when such vacancy shall 

be filled in the manner hereinbefore provided, but any such l~stwentioned appointment and confirmation by the senate shall be for 

the unexpired term only. Members of said commission, before entering upon the duties of their office, shall.make and subscribe an oath 

or affirmation (before some person authorized by the laws of this 

State to administer the same) to truly, faithfully, and impartially perform and discharge the duties of their office according to law· and file 

the same with the secretary of state. The terms of office of the members of said commission .(except those appointed by the governor to 

fill vacancies as aforesaid) shall commence on the first Monday of 

May next succeeding their appointment by the governor and confirmation by the senate. Qn the first Monday of May next succeeding 

the original appointment of said commission the members thereof 

shall meet at the statehouse in the city of Trenton and organize by 

the electi(m of one of their number to be chairman of said commission and one to be treasurer thereof, which officers shall hold office at 

the pleasure of the commission. After having so met and organized 

subsequent meetings of the commission shall be held at such times 

and places as the commissipn may direct or as it may be called to 

meet by the chairman. 

2. Said commission shall keep a record of all its proceedings and 

transactions, also full artd accurate account of its receipts, disbursements, expenditures, (:I>Ssets, and liabilities, and shall annually report 

to the legislature its operations, proceedings, and transactions for the 

preceding year, with a statement or abstract of'such receipts; disbursements, expenditures, assets, and liabilities. 

3. The members of said commission shall each receive an annual 

salary of one thousand dollars, to be paid as other salaries of State 

officers are paid. Said commission may have a secretary (not a member of the commission), to be appointed by the commission or a 

majority thereof, who shall hold his office a.t the pleasure of the commission or a majority thereof, and receive such salary as the commission or a majority thereof, with the approval of the governor, may 

fix; said commission or a majority thereof may also fro~ time to 

time employ or appoint such experts, engineers, officers, agents, 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE R.!!;STRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 75 

employes, workmen, and servants as it may deem necessary or proper 

to enable it to perform its duties and carry out the objects and purposes of this act; and said commission or a majority thereof may 

fix and determine the duties and compensation of said experts, engineers, officers, agents,. employes, workmen, and servants, and remove 

or discharge the same or any of them at pleasure. 

4. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep a record of all the 

proceedings and transactions of the commission, to prepare the annual 

report to the legislature, and perform such other duties as the commisswn may require. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to take 

charge of the moneys received by the commission, to keep aecurate 

accounts of the receipt and disbursement thereof, and to deposit and 

pay out said moneyf! as the commission may direct and under such 

rules and regulations as it may from time to time establish. The 

treasurer may be required to give bond to the commission for the due 

and faithful performance of his duties as such treasurer, in such sum 

and with such sureties as the commission or a majority thereof may 

require and approve. 

5. It shall be the duty of said commission to investigate the various methods of sewage disposal, either in this country or elsewhere, 

in order that they may be able to make proper recommendations in 

regard thereto. They shall investigate all complaints of pollution of 

the waters ·of this State which shall be brought to their notice, and 

shall advise as to the best methods of sewage disposal in order to prevent such pollution. 

6. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, or municipality 

to build any sewer or drain or sewerage system from which it is 

designed that any sewage or other harmful and deleterious matter, 

solid or liquid, shall flow into any of the waters of this State so as to 

pollute or render impure said waters, except under such conditions as 

shall be approved by the State sewerage commission: Provided, That 

the provisions of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit the use 

or extension of existing sewers, drains, or sewerage systems. 

7. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, or municipality 

to build or cause to be built any plant for the treatment of sewage or 

other polluting substance from which the effluent is to flow into any 

of the waters of t-his State, except under such conditions as shall be 

approved by the State sewerage commission, to whom the plans shall 

be submitted before building. 

8. On or before the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred, and thereafter whenever required by said commission, the mayor 

of every municipality and the chairman of every township committee 

of every township now having, using, owning, leasing, or controlling 

a sewerage plant or system shall furnish to said commission, on blanks 

to be provided by said commission, a st~ttement showing the disposition made of the sewage of their respective municipalities or town-
76 L.A.WS FORBIDDING INLAND·W.A.TER POLLUTION. LNo.103. 

ships, and, as near as possible, the amount discharged each twentyfour hours, and such other information and data as may be called for 

by said blanks to be provided as aforesaid by said commission. 

9. The words. "waters of this State," as used in this act, shall be 

held and construed to mean and include any. and all waters of any 

pond, lake, creek, inlet, bay, estuary, river, or stream of this State. 

10. To enable said commission to carry out and enforce the provisions of this act, the said commission may expend a sum not exceeding 

five thousand dollars, when duly appropriated. 

11. And whereas, in order to prevent the pollution of the waters of 

this St,ate, it is deemed necessary to establish a proper system or systems of sewerage and drainage wherein may or may not be included 

a system or systems of sewage disposal works for the scientific treatment and proper disposal of sewage and sewage matter and the effiuent thereof, and the establishment of any such system or systems 

may render proper or nece;osary the formation or creation of sewerage 

districts embracing portions or the whole of the territory of two or 

more of the municipalities of this State, within which districts such 

system may be constructed, maintained, and operated, and such 

municipalities may be unable, through lack of power and authority, 

or otherwise, to agree upon the establishment of any such system or 

systems or upon the extent or limits of the territory of their respective municipalities to be included in any such district or districts and 

devoted to the uses and purposes of any such system or systems as 

aforesaid; therefore, upon presentation to said the State sewerage 

commission of a petition in writing, setting forth that in order to prevent the pollution of the waters of this State, or an:y of· them, it is 

· proper or necessary that portions or the whole of t.he territory of two 

or more of the municipalities of this State should be erected into a 

sewerage district for the construction, maintaining, and operation 

within such district of a system of sewerage and drainage or a system 

of sewage-disposal works, or of both such systems, and naming each 

municipality, the whole or any portion of the territory whereof it is 

proposed shall be included in such district, and stating generally the 

boundaries and outlines of such proposed district with sufficient 

exactness to show approximately the quantity or extent of territory 

of each municipality to be embraced in such proposed district, and 

requesting said commission to create and establish such district for 

either or both of the purposes aforesaid; and if said petition be signed 

by the mayors or other chief executive officers of all of the municipalities named in said petition, any of whose territory is proposed to 

be included in said district, said l'lignatures being respectively affixed 

. to said petition by authority or direction of the respective governing 

bodies of such municipalities (full power and authority to authorize 

and direct the signing of any such petition being hereby conferred 

upon and vested in all such governing bodies), and the signing of 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW ,JERSEY. 77 

said petition by such authority or direction being made to appear by 

affidavit or other due ·proof thereof, it shall be lawful for said the 

State sewerage commission to appoint a. time and place when and 

where it will attend and give public hearing of the matters contained 

in said petition to all persons and parties interested therein; said 

commission shall cause at least twenty days' notice to be given of. the 

time and place of any such hearing by publishing the same in the 

newspaper or newspapers, if any, published within said I>roposed district, and if none be published therein, then in a newspaper or newspapers published in the neighborhood of said proposed district and 

circulating therein; said notice may also, at the discretion of said 

commission, be published in a newspaper or newspapers published 

outside of said proposed district, w-hether or not any paper or papers 

be published within the same; said commission shall also, at least 

ten days prior to the day fixed for such hearing, cause notice of the 

time and place thereof to be mailed to or served upon the mayor or 

other chief executive offic(.lr of any and all municipalities named in 

said pf)tition, any territory whereof is included in said proposed district; and said commission may, if it deem propf)r so to do, require a 

copy of said petition to be mailed to or served upon such mayors or 

other chief executive officers such number of days prior to said hearing as it may direct; said hearing may be adjourned from time to 

time as said commission may decide; the sessions of said commission 

on said hearing, or any adjournment thereof, when sitting for the 

taking of testimony or hearing argument of counsel, shall be open 

and public, and witnesses may be examined under oath or affirmation, 

which any member of said commission or the secretary thereof is 

hereby authorized and empowered to administer; the secretary of said 

commission shall attend at all such hearings and keep minutes of the 

proceedings thereat; said commission may, if it deem proper so to do, 

employ a stenographer to take and transcribe the testimony produced 

before it at any such hearing; and said commission may require the 

persons or parties presenting to it any such petition as aforesaid to 

pay in advance or assume or guarantee to pay all or such part of the 

costs, charges, and expenses to be made or incurred by reason of the 

filing of said petition and subsequent proceedings to.be had thereupon 

or thereunder, as said commission may'think proper. 

12. If, after such hearing,· said commission, or a majority thereof, 

shall deem it advisable to comply with the request of said petition, 

and that a district for the purpose or purposes, or either of them 

therein stated, should be created and established, said commission 

shall adopt a resolution to that effect, defining the limits and boundaries of such district with certainty and declaring the territory 

included within such limits and boundaries to be a sewerage district, 

within which a system of sewerage and drainage, or a system of 

sewage-disposal works, or both, may be constructed, maintained, and 
78 L.A. WS FORBIDDING IN:J;,.A.ND·W .A.TER POLLUTION. [NO. 103.· 

operated under the provisions of this act; the said district shall·be 

called and known as "sewerage districts," and the boards to construct, maintain, .and operate the system or systems of sewerage or 

sewage-disposal works withm such districts shall be called and known 

as "sewerage boards;" in and .by said resolution, said commission 

shall assign to the district therein and thereby established a name 

and number,. thus, "Sewerage district number--," and 'shall also 

specify the name by which the board thereafter to be elected in such 

district shall be called and designated, thus, "Sewerage board of district number--," the number of any such district and that of the 

sewerage board therein to he always the same. The first sewerage 

district created and established under this act shall be " Sewerage 

district number one," the second number two, and so on in regular 

order as the same may . be respectively created. Said commission 

shall also cause a map to be prepared of said district so created and 

established, whereon and whereby shall ·be shown with accuracy the 

limits and boundaries of such district, of what municipalities the 

lands included in said district form a part and what extent or quantity of territory of each municipality (whether the whole or a portion 

thereof) is included in said district. The original of· said map shall 

be filed with said commission, and within ten days after the adoption 

of said resolution a copy thereof and of said map shall be filed in 

the office of the secretary of state and in the clerk's office of each 

county in which any of· the lands included in said district may be 

situate; and from and after the filing of such resolution and maps as 

aforesaid the territory included in said district as stated and shown 

in and by said resolution and map shall he deemed to be and constitute a sewerage district by the name and number and for the purposes stated in said resolution. ' 

13. The members of the several sewerage boards shall consist of 

two members from each municipality, in whole or part, within the 

sewerage district, to be appointed by the governin~ body of each of 

. such municipalities, and one member to be appointed by the State 

sewerage commission, all of whom shall be r"esidents of the district; 

provided that in ease more than thr(\e nmnicipalities shall be included 

in whole or part in any sewerage district, there shall be but one member from each municipality in addition to the number appointed by 

the State ·sewerage commission. 

14. The members of any district sewerage board first appointed 

shall meet at such time arid place as the State sewerage commission 

shall designate; each member of said board (and all members thereof 

afterwards appointed thereto) shall take and subscribe an oath or 

affirmation, before some person authorized to administer the same, to 

faithfnliy and truly perform his duty as member of such board to the 

best of his ability, and within two days after making thereof forward 

the same to the se<.~:retary Qf ~tt:~;tei ~3t~d l?o~rd, when met as aforesaid 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 79 

(the members thereof having each made and subscribed said oath or 

affirmation) shall organize by the election of oue of their number as 

chairman, one as secretary, and one as treasurer; the members of said 

board shall serve for the term of thre'e years each, and the terms of 

such members shall commence on the date of their first meeting as 

designated by the State sewerage commission; the chairman, secretary, and treasurer of said board shall, respectively, serve for the period · 

of one year and until their successors are elected; a certificate or 

statement of such meeting and organization of said board shall, on 

the day of such meeting, be prepared and mailed to the secretary of 

state, to be filed in his office; meetings of said board subsequent to 

such first meeting for organization shall be held at such times and 

places as the board may decide or as it may be called to meet by the. 

chairman. 

15. From and after such meeting and organization of said board 

and the filing of .such certificate as aforesaid, said board shall be 

deemed to be and shall be a body politic and corporate, under the 

same name and title as that designated and specified in the resolution 

of the State sewerage commission creating and defining the said sewerage district, to wit, "Sewerage board of district number--.," and 

by such name and title said sewerage board shall have perpei;ual succession with power to sue and be sued and the right, power, and 

authority to acquire, hold, use and dispose of all such property, real 

or personal, as may be proper or necessary for the objects, uses, and 

purposes for which said sewerage board was created, and with all 

other powers necessary or incident to bodies politic and corporate or 

that may be necessary or proper to carry out and effectuate the 

objects and purposes of this act and the objects and purposes for 

which said sewerage board was created. . 

16. Any such board incorporated as aforesaid shall have full power 

and authority within its respective district, under the supervision, 

direction, and control of the State sewerage commission as hereinbefore or hereinafter provided, to construct, maintain, and operate in 

said district a system of sewerage and drainage, or of sewage-disposal 

works, or both, with the necessary pipes, drains, conduits, fixtures, 

pumping works, and other appliances for the purpose of taking up 

sewage and all other offensive and deleterious matter and convey the 

same to some proper place or places of deposit or disposal to be 

selected by the said board, there to be deposited, treated, disinfected, 

or disposed of as to the said board may seem proper and as may 

be deemed most advantageous; and it shall be the duty of all persons and all corporate bodies and municipalities owning or controlling sewers or drains or having charge. thereof within the limits of 

the district wherein intercepting or main sewers have been or· may be 

constructed by the said .board as herein provided, to cause the same 

to be connected therewith; and it shall be the duty qf sa,id board i~ 
80 LAWS FORBIDDING INL.AND·W .ATER POLLUTION. [N0.103. 

constructing such main or intercepting sewers to have them so con· 

structed that such connection can be made therewith at all necessary 

and proper points and places; an· such connections shall be made in 

accordance wU.h the rules and regulations from time to time adopted 

by the said board in rel~tion thereto, and under the direction and 

supervision of its officers and agents. 

17. The said board shall have·power and authority to purchase and 

acquire all lands, rights, or interest in lands which may be deemed 

necessary for the construction ·of sewers, drains, disposa·l pumping, 

and other works authorized by this act; and if in any case the said 

board shall be unable to agree with t_he owner or owners of any lands, 

rights, or interests inlands deemed necess;1ry by the said board il} the 

construction of the works herein authorized, or when, by reason·of 

the legal incapacity or absence of such owner or owners, no agreement can be made for the purchase thereof, the lands or rights in 

lands so desired shall be acquired in the manner provided by the 

general laws of this State relating to the· condemnation of hinds for 

public use. 

18. Before determining upon the final plan or route for the building 

or construction of any work authorized by this act, the said board 

may, by its officers, agents, servants, and employes, enter at all 

times upon any lands or waters for the purpose of exploring, surveying, leveling, and laying out the route of any drain or sewer, locating 

any disposal, pumping, or other works, establishing grades and doing all 

necessary preliminary work, doing, however, no unnecessary damage 

or injury to private or other property. 

19. The said board shall have power and authority to construct any 

sewer or ·drain, by it to be made dr constructed under or over any 

water course, under, over, or across, 9r along any street, turnpike, 

road, railroad, highway or other way, and in or upon private or public lands under water, in such way and manner, however, as not 

unnecessarily to obstruct or impede travel or navigation, and may 

enter upon and dig up any road, street, highway, or private or public 

land, for the purpose of laying down sewers and drains upon or 

beneath the surface thereof, and for maintaining and repairing the 

same, and in general may do all other acts and things necessary, convenient, and proper for the purposes of this act; and whenever the ' . . 

said board shall dig up any road, street, or way, as aforesaid, it shall,· 

as far as practicable, restore the same to as good condition and order 

as the same was when such digging commenced. 

20. The said board shall have power and authority also to alter or 

change the course or direction of any water course, and, with the consent of the board or body having control of the streets and highways 

in any city, town, or municipality, to alter or change the location or 

grade of any highway, public street, or way crossed by any sewer or 

drain constructe<\ or to be constructed under the provisions of this 

act, or in which such sewers or drains may be located. 
GOODELL,] SEVERE S'l'ATUTE RERTRIOTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 81 

21. 'fhe said board shall at all times keep full and accurate accounts 

of its reeeipis, expenditures, disbursements, assets, and liabilities, 

and shall annually make a report of its operations and doings, in 

which report it shall include an abstract of such receipts, expenditures, disbursements, assets, and liabilities, and publish the same in· 

one or more newspapers, published in each of the counties in said 

district. 

22. To provide for the payment of the costs and expenses incurred 

or to be incurred by the said board in making the constructions and 

executing the work and performing the duties imposed upon it by 

this act, it shall have power and authority from time to time to issue 

bonds in its corporate name, not to exceed in amount such costs and . 

expenses, and not to exceed that part. of such cost and expense 

incurred in the work of constructing sewers, drains, disposal, and 

other works, including the cost of lands, rights and interests in lands, 

of which a separate account is to be kept by said board as hereinafter 

provided; such bonds shall be of the form and payable at such time, 

not exceeding thirty years from the date thereof, and at such place, 

either in currency or coin, as the said board may determine; they shall 

bear interest at a rate not exceeding five per centum per annum; in 

issuing such bonds the said board may, in its discretion, make the same, 

or any part thereof, fall due at stated periods less than thirty y:ears, or 

may reserve therein an option to redeem and pay the same or any_ 

part thereof at stated periods at any time between the date. thereof 

and the date at which they would otherwise fall due, and all such 

bonds may be negotiated, sold, or disposed of at not less than their. 

par value, and the same or the proceeds thereof may be used by the 

said board for the purpose aforesaid. 

23. The said board shall keep the costs and expenses of the construction of sewers, drains, disposal and other works, in which,. .s4ttll· 

· be included the cost of lands, rights and interests in. lands, separate: . 

from the costs and expenses of maintenance, operation, and repairs, 

and Shall, after having prepared and adopted plans (which, however, 

the board or the State sewerage commission shall have the power to 

change or modify, if such change or modification shall be found necessary or desirable), make a careful estimate of the cost and expense of 

such construction, and shall divide and apportion the same, according to their best judgment, to and between the several municipalities 

or parts thereof (if any) included within such sewerage districts ratably and proportionally to the benefits received or to be received by 

such municipalities or parts thereof from such construction, and shall 

furnish to the governing body of each and every municipality the 

whole or any part whereof is included in such sewerage district, a 

statement of such estimated cost and expense and of the division and 

apportionment thereof as aforesaid, and service of said statement 

IRR 103-04-6 
82 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

upon the mayor or other chief executive officer or upon the clerk of 

any such municipality shall be deemed to be a service upon the municipality; if the governing body of any snell. municipality (whether a 

whole or only a part thereof is included in such sewerage district) 

shall be dissatisfied with such division and apportionment and shall 

within twenty days after service thereof as aforesaid express such dissatisfaction by a resolution adopted by a majority of such body, then 

it shall be lawful for such body, in the corporate name of such municipality, to make application to any justice. of the supreme court of 

this State for the appointment of three disinterested persons, residents 

of this State, commission to review such division and apportionment, and correct, amend, revise, alter, or confirm the same, as they 

or a majority of them shall deem just and proper, and it shall be the 

duty of said justice to make such appointment; the commissioners so 

appointed (having respectively taken and subscribed an oath or affirmation before some person authorized to administer the same faithfully and impartially to perform the duties imposed upon them bya), 

shall forthwith, at such time and place as they or a majority of them 

may appoint, and upon such notice as the said justice in the order 

appointing said commissioners shall direct to be given, hear the parties interested in said matter and such proofs and witnesses as may 

be produced before them; said commissioners may adjourn said hearing from time to time as occasion may require; on any such hearing 

the parties, if they so choose, may be represented by counsel, and the 

witnesses may be examined under oath or affirmation, which any of 

said commissioners are hereby authorized to administer; said commissioners may designate one of their number to act as chairman and 

one to act as clerk or secretary; at the conclusion of such hearing, 

and within ten days thereafter, said commissioners, or a majority of 

them, shall correct, amend, revise, alter, or confirm such division and 

apportionment as they or a majority of them shall deem just and 

proper under the evidence and proofs produced before them, and shall 

make and sign a statement or certificate thereof, which statement or 

certificate shall be final and conclusive and binding upon all parties; 

the application for the appointment of such commissioners, the ordet· 

of the justice appointing them, the oath or affirmation of said commissioners, and their said statement or certificate shall, with'in two 

days after the making of such statement or certificate, be filed with 

the secretary of the sewerage board which made the division or appor~ 

tionment reviewed by said commissioners; and such sewerage board, 

within five days after the_ filing of such statement or certificate as 

aforesaid, shall cause a certified copy thereof to be served in manner 

aforesaid upon each of the municipalities that the original division 

and apportionment made by said sewerage board was served upon, 

which certified copy so served shall be in lieu and stead of that origa So in original. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 83 

inally served, and (as aforesaid) be final and conclusive and binding 

upon all parties; if, in any case, where only a part of a municipality 

is included in a sewerage district, the governing body of such municipality shall not within said twenty days after service upon it of any 

such originai statement as aforesaid, adopt a resolution expressing its 

dissatisfaction as aforesaid provided, then, and in ev,ry such case, it 

shall and may be lawful for one or more of the residents and t,axpayers, or resident.s and nonresident taxpayers of sa~d sewerage district, to join in such application as aforesaid to an~ justice of the 

supreme court for the appointment of coinmissioners .to review, as 

aforesaid, the said division and apportionment, and th~reupon the said 

· justice may, in his discretion, appoint sueh commissioners, and if 

such appointment be made, said commissioners 8halll proceed in the 

same manner, and the proceedings before them had shall be similar 

to those hereinbefore provided, and the st,atemPnt qr certificate of 

said commissioners ·made upon any such last-mentioned application 

shall be final and conclusive and binding upon all pajties. 

24. The said sewerage board shall also, in the mannrr hereinbefore 

directed, serve upon or furnish to each of. said muntcipalities after 

every issue and sale of bonds a statement of the amount of such 

bonds and the date of interest thereon and the proportion thereof 

allotted to each municipality (where such municipa~ity is entirely 

within the sewerage district) or (where only a part of the municipality is included in the sewerage district) of the propbrtion of such 

~ivis~on and apport.ion~ent allo~ted to the part of th13 municipali~y 

m said sewe·rage district; and It shall be the duty df each of said 

municipalities, and of its proper officers, in the next ~nnnal tax levy 

made in such municipality and in each succeeding year thereafter to 

include and raise by taxation the amount required to I pay the interest on the proportion of such bonded indebtedness allotted to such 

municipality or part thereof, as the case may be, ami jf such municipality be entirely within such sewerage district then 1

it shall be the 

duty of such municipalities to cause to be levied and assessed therein 

a snm equal to the amount of interest so apportioned fnd allotted to 

such municipality together with such additional sum, to be divided 

and apportioned and allotted to and between said ml/Inicipalities or 

parts thereof as aforesaid as may be necessary to estaulish and maintain a sinking fund sufficient to· pay the principal of thb bonds issued 

by the said sewerage board under authority of this act -tv hen the same 

fall due. If only a part of the municipality be included in the sewerage district, then it shall be the duty of such municipality and its 

proper officers, instead of levying and assessing the same upon the 

whole municipality, to cause, in manner aforesaid, the sum or sums 

that may, as aforesaid, be apportioned and allotted to such part of 

the municipality as is included in the sewerage district to be levied 

and assessed in and upon such part of the municipality as is included 
84 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [No. 103. 

in the sewerage district, in the same manner as other taxes may be 

levied and assessed therein; and it shall be the duty of all taxing 

officers and all collecting officers in the said municipalities to levy, 

assess, and collect the said amount or sums so to be raised in such 

municipalities or parts thereof, aR the case may be; and. it shall also 

be the duty of the collector of taxes in each of the said municipalities, or other proper officer, to pay to the sew~:~rage board thereunto 

entitled the money so levied, assessed, and collected. After each 

census, State or ·national, a new allotment shall be made of the sinking fund or redemption fund in the manner herein provided. 

25. As soon as t.he work of construction by this act authorized (or 

the cost ·and expense of which a preliminary estimate shall have been 

made as herein provided) has been completed the ·said board· sh~ll 

proceed at once to ascertain the actual cost and expense of such work, 

and shall furnish to each of the said municipalities or .municipal 

divisions a statement of such cost and expense. · 

26. The cost of maintenance, operation, and repairs, together with 

the cost of supervision, and all other expenses of every kind not 

included in the cost and expense of construction, shall be annually 

estimated by the said board and divided and apportioned between the 

said several municipalities or parts thereof upon the same basis as 

herein provided for the division of the cost and expense of construction; and that the same when so divided and apportioned, shall be 

levied, assessed, collected, and paid annually in the same manner provided for the levying, assessment, and collection. of the cost and 

expense of construction: Provided, however, That if at the end of any 

year when such cost and expense shall have been accurat~:~ly ascertained such estimate shall be found to have been more or less than the 

proper proportion of any such municipality, then the surplus or deficiency, as the case may be, shall be deducted from or added to the 

sum to be levied, assessed, and collected for the succeeding year. 

27. The said board shall, immediately after receiving from the said 

municipalities, or either of them, or from the collector or treasurer 

of any such municipality, any moneys on account of the apportionment made, as hereinbefore provided, ot: as soon thereafter as practicable, cause the same to be invested in securities, the character of 

which shall be the same as required by law for savings banks of this 

State, except so much thereof as may be required to pay interest due 

or to fall due during the current year; and all such funds, and the 

securities in which the same or any part thereof shall be invested, 

and the interest received therefrom, shall be held, used, and applied 

by the said board as a sinking fund to meet and pay, the interest and 

principal on the bonds issued by the said board under the authority 

of this act, and for no other purpose whatever, until all such bonds 

and all arrears of interest thereon are fully paid. It shall be the 

duty of said sewerage board to include in its annual report the amount 
oooDFJLr,.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRIC'l'IONS-NEW ,JERSEY; 85 

of money received by it f9r the purposes aforesaid, the sources from 

which such money was rec¢ived, and the investment of the same; and 

the said board shall keep a record and account of all bonds issued 

by it, when the same fallldue, the time and place of payment, and 

the rate of interest there6n, and of the amount received on the sale 

or disposition thereof, and Rhall also keep an account of all moneys 

invested, held, and used as a sinking fund, and of the securities in 

which the same maybe invested. The books, records, account-s, papers, 

and documents of the said board shall be open to the inspection of 

any person appointed by the governing body of any municipality 

within said district to inspect the same: Provided, however, That in 

case the said board shall issue bonds which shall fall due and become 

paya1le at stated periods less than thirty years, or shall retain in any 

such issue the option to redeem bonds prior to the date at which they 

would otherwise fall due as hereinbefore provided, then it shall be 

lawful for the said board to make application of the ·moneys received 

by it from the several municipalities and of the funds temporarily 

invested by the said board so received for the purpose of paying off 

and discharging the said obligations according to their tenor and 

effect. 

28. During the year preceding the year in which the bonds issued 

under the authority of this act shall fall due the said board shall 

cause a careful computation to be made of the moneys that will be 

available for the payment of the same, and if it shall be found that 

any deficiency will exist in the fund that will be available therefor, 

after the application of moneys received and the use of all securities 

held, such deficiency shall be apportioned and allotted to the said 

municipalities in the same manner and upon the same basis as the 

original apportionment, and shall be added to the amount so levied, 

assessed, collected, and paid by the said mmiicipalities, respectively, 

in the succeeding year; ·and if any excess shall be found to exist in 

such fund the surplus shall be credited to -each of the said municipalities in the same proportion and deducted from future estimates 

of the respective shares or proportions of such municipalities of the 

cost and expense of maintenance, operation, and repairs. 

29. In and about the performance and discharge of the duties 

imposed upon .it by this act any such sewerage board as aforesaid, 

or a majority thereof, may employ such experts, engineers, contractors, officers, agents, employes, clerks, workmen, and servants as it 

may deem necessary or proper to enable it to perform its duties and 

carry out the objects and purposes of this act; and said board, or a 

majority thereof, may fix and determine the duties and compensation of such experts, engineers, contractors, officers, agents, employes, 

clerks, workmen, and servants, and remove or discharge the same, 

or any of. them, at pleasure. 

30. The secretary of any such sewerage board shall keep a record 
86 LAWS FORRIDDING INL.A.ND-WA'I~ER POLLUTION. (NO. 103. 

of all the proceedings and transactions of said board; nuder the direction of said board he shall prepare the estimate, division, and apportionment provided for in section twenty-six hereof; he shall prepare 

the annual report of said board and perform such other duties as the 

board may from time to time require. The secretary shall receive an 

annual salary, to be fixed by the board, or a majority thereof, but he 

shall not receive any per diem allowance. 

31. The treasurer of any such sewerage board shall have charge and 

custody of all moneys and securities received or owned or held by said 

board; he shall keep accurate record and account of the receipt, disbursement, and disposition of all such moneys and securities, and 

invest, deposit, dispose of, disburse, and pay out the same at such 

times and in such manner as the board may direct, :1nd under such 

rules and regulations as it may from time to time establish. The 

treasurer shall give bond to such board for the due and faithful performance of his duties as such treasurer in such sum and with such 

sureties as the board, or a majority thet·eof, may require. The treasurer shall receive an annual salar·y, to be fixed and determined by the 

board, or a majority thereof, but he shall not receive any per diem 

allowance. 

32. The members of any such board, except the secretary and treasurer thereof, when actually engaged in and about the business of said 

board, shall receive a per diem compensation of five dollars; said per 

diem compensation, and the salaries to be paid the secretary and treasurer, shall-be included in said estimate hereinbefore mentioned. 

33. Any such sewerage board is authorized and empowered to rent 

an office or offices as may be required for the due transaction and 

carrying out of its work and duties, and to properly equip and furnish such office or offices, the expense thereof to be included in said 

estimate mentioned in section twenty-six hereof. 

34. 'l'his act shall take effect immediately. 

Approved March 24, 1899. 

[Laws of 1902, p. 195, chap. 49.] 

AN ACT authorizing the appointment and defining the powers and duties of commissioners in sewage and drainage districts created for the purpose of relieving 

the streams and rivers therein from pollution, and to provide a plan for the 

prevention thereof,-and providing for the raising, expenditure, and payment of 

moneys necessary for this purpose. 

Be it enacted by the senate and general assembly of the State of New 

Jersey: 

1.. Upon the creation and incorporation by the legislature of any 

sewerage and drainage district for the purpose mentioned in the title 

of this act it shall be the duty of the governor of this State forthwith 

to appoint therein and therefor five able and discreet men, residents 
GOODELL.] SF.VERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 87 

within such district (having regard in making such appointments to 

locality, so that each section of the district may be represented, as 

far as practicable), who, when so appointed, commissioned, and, 

sworn, shall constitute a board of commissioners, to be known as the 

--- district sewerage and drainage commissioners (inserting in 

each case in the blank space the· name of the district designated in 

the act of incorporation), and the persons so appointed shall receive 

as compensation for their services an annual salary of ·twenty-five 

hundred dollars, payable in equal monthly installments. In making 

the first appointments under this act the members of the said board 

shall be appointed as follows: One for a term of one year, one for a 

term of two years, one for a term of three years, one for a term of 

four years, and one for a term of five years, and thereafter one shall be 

appointed each year for a term of five years. · Any vacancy occurring 

in the said board by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled 

in the same manner as the original appointment for the balance of 

the term. Each of the said commissioners so appointed shall, before 

they enter upon the duties of their office, take and subscribe an oath 

that they will faithfully and impartially execute and perform the 

duties imposed upon ·them by law, and cause the same to be filed in 

the office of the secretary of state of this State. The governor of this 

State shall have power to remove such ~ommissioners from office for· 

cause during their term of office and, .:upon removal, to fill the vacancy 

thus occasioned for the unexpired term in the manner herein provided for filling vacancies. 

2. The 10aid board shall, as soon as may be after appointment, and 

annually thereafter on the first Tuesday in May in each year, organize 

by the choice of one of its members as chairman, and may elect a 

clerk, who may or may not be a member of the said hoard, and may 

from time to time appoint such agents, officers, and servants and 

employ such engineers and assistants as it may deem necessary to 

carry out the purposes of this act, and may determine their duties 

and compensation and remove the same at its pleasure. -

3. The said board of commissioners, when duly organized, shall be 

deemed to be and shall become a body corporate, with power to sue 

and be sued and with the right to acquire, hold, use, and dispose of 

all such property as may be necessary for the uses and purposes for 

which the said board was created and with all other necessary powers 

incident to corpora.te bodies. 

4. When duly organized, the said commissioners shall at once, 

. with the aid and assistance of such engineers and other agents as 

they may deem proper, proceed to investigate methods and plans for 

relieving the streams and rivers within the said district from pollution and for preventing the pollution of the same, and to determine 

the apportionment of the capacity of sewer provided for each municipality in any intercepting sewer, sewers, or disposal works: J!rovided, 
88 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [NO. 100. 

That before a final determination as to the plan or method to be 

adopted for the purpose, an opportunity shall be given the governing 

body of each municipality to be heard in relation thereto, and after 

said hearing, as soon as the said commissioners have adopted a plan 

or method for this purpose, they shall report the same to the respective municipalities of the district and to the legislature of this State, 

together with a bill providing therefor and for the expenses thereof. 

5. Before determining upon the final plan or route for the building 

or construction of any work investigated under this act the said board 

may, by its officers, agents, servants, and employees, enter at all times 

upon any lands or waters for the purpose of exploring, surveying, 

leveling, and laying out the route of any drain or sewer, locating'· any 

disposal, pumping, or other works, establishhig grades, and doing all 

necessary preliminary work in the way of designating locations, doing, 

however, no unnecessary damage or injury to private or other 

property. 

6. The said board shall at all times keep full and accurate account 

of its r~ceipts and expenditures, disbursements, assets, and liabilities, 

and shall annually cause a detailed statement thereof to be published 

in one or more newspapers published or circulating in the respective 

municipalities in said district. 

7. To provide for the payment of the cost and expense incurred or 

to be incurred by the said' boart'l in investigating and performing the 

duties imposed upon it by this act, one-half of said cost of a expense 

shall be paid out of the State treasury on certificate of the governor 

to the comptroller, who shall draw hi's warrant on 'the State treasurer 

l.n favor of the said board for the amount thereof, the same to be 

ascertained on a duly verified statement of such' expenses being flied 

·with the governor and in the office of the secretary of state; as to the 

balance of the said costs and expense incurred or to be incurred 

under this act, the' said board shall have power and authority: 

I. To issue from time to time, for the said one-half of the costs and 

expenses, temporary certificates; to run for a period not to exceed 

two years, the aggregate issue of said certificates not to exceed the 

sum of twenty-five thousand dollars; such certificates, when issued, 

shall be deemed and considered the indebtedness of the sewerage and 

drainage district, and shall constitute a charge upon persons and . 

property therein, and shall be retired and paid in the manner hereinafter provided. 

II. The said board shall have power and authority to order and 

cause a tax to be levied, assessed, and collected upon persons and property within the said sewerage and drainage district, the proceeds of 

which to be used in payment of the said certificates and the interest 

due and to grow due thereon; the amount to.be assessed and collected 

a So in original. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 89 

in the respective municipalities composing such districts shall be 

determined by the said board, and shall be apportioned according to 

the taxable ratables of the last preceding year as returned by the 

taxing officers in said district, and a certificate by the said board 

shall be filed with the taxing officers of such municipalities compos-

• ing the said sewerage district, and it shall be the duty of the taxing 

officers within the said municipalities included in the said sewerage 

and drainage district, to levy, assess, and collect and pay over to the 

said commissioners any tax ordered by them to be assessed by virtue 

of the provisions of this act. 

8. It shall be the duty of th(l said board annually to make and file 

with the secretary of state of this State a report showing the amount 

of money received by it for the purposes aforesaid, sources from 

which money was received, and the (~xpenditure of the same; and it 

shall be the duty of the said board to keep an account of all certifi~ 

cates issued by it, when the same fall due, the time and place of payment, the rate of interest thereon, and of the amount received on the 

sale or disposition thereof; and the books, records, accounts, papers, 

and documents of the said board shal\ be open for the inspection of 

the governor of this State, or any person or persons whom he may 

appoint to inspect the same. 

9. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act with 

dispatch the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated by the State out of any moneys now in the State treasury not 

otherwise appropriated, and the governor is hereby authorized and 

empowered to give an order on the comptroller for advanced payments to the said board on account of the State's share of such 

expenses to be incurred. 

10. When the said board of commissioners are appointed and organized under this act it shall have absolute control of and supervision 

over the prevention of pollution throughout the said sewerage or 

drainage district for which the said commissioners were appointed, 

exclusive of any other body or board in this State now having control 

of the same: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall 

in any way affect or delay or interfere with any action or proceedings 

which may have heretofore been taken by the State sewerage commission for the purpose of preventing pollution in said sewerage district, 

or that may hereafter be taken by said State sewerage commission for 

the enforcement thereof. 

11. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this 

act be, and the same are hereby, repealed, and this act shall take 

effect immediately. 

Approved March 27, 1902. 
90 JJA WS FORBIDDING INL.AND·W .ATER POLLUTION. [No.lOO. 

[Act passed by the special session of the legislature convened April 21, 1903. Laws of 11108, 

p. 777.] 

AN ACT to relieve from pollution the rivers and streams within the Passaic Valley 

sewerage district, established and defined by an act .of the legislature entitled 

"An. act to create a sewerage district to be called the Passaic Valley sewerage 

district," approved March twenty-seventh. one tholisaad nine hundred and two, 

and for this purpose establishing therefor a district board of cmi:missioners, 

defining its powers and duties, and providing for the appointment, terms of 

office, duties, and compensation of such commissioners, and further providing 

for the raising, collecting, and expenditure of the necessary moneys. 

Whereas the legislature of this State has created and defined a sewerage district, embracing a large number of municipalities and parts 

of municipalities, in the counties of Passaic, Bergen, Hudson, and 

Essex, under the name of the Passaic Valley sewerage district; and 

Whereas the Passaic River and many streams flowing into it 

within said. sewerage district are polluted by sewage and other deleterious matter to the extent that the health of the .people residing in 

said district is seriously endangered; and 

Whereas immediate relief therefrom is imperative; and 

Whereas the governor of thi,s State, by sanction of the legislature, 

has appointed five commissioners for Raic;I district with _power, among 

other things, to investigate methods and plans for relieving the streams 

and rivers within said district from pollution, and for preventing the 

pollution of the same; and 

Whereas said commissioners have adopted an effectual plan or 

method for relieving the streams and. rivers within said district from 

pollution, and for preventing the pollution of the same, and have 

reported said plan or method to the legislature; and 

Whereas, in order to carry into effect such plan or method, with 

such modifications or additions thereto as shall hereafter be approved 

by said commissioners, it is necessary that further and greater power 

be given to said commissioners: · 

Be it enacted by the senate and general· assembly of the State of 

New Jersey: 

1. The commissioners heretofore appointed by the governor of t~is 

State in and for the Passaic Valley sewerage district shalt continue 

in their respective offices for the terms for which they were severally 

appointed, and said terms are hereby extended to the first Tuesday 

of May succeeding the date when their terms under said appointments 

would respectively expire; and hereafter one commissioner shall be 

appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the 

senate, in each year for a term of five years, beginning on the first 

Tuesday of May next followin~ the date of his appointment. Any 

yacancy occurring in the office of commissioner by death, resignation, 

or otherwise shall be filled by the governor, but for the unexpired 

term only. Each of the said commissioners hereafter appointed, before 

he enters upon the duties of his office, shall take and subscribe an 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 91 

oath that he will faithfully and impartially execute and perform the 

duties imposed upon him by law, and cause the same to be filed in 

the office of the secretary of state of this State. The commissioners 

shall each receive for services under this act an annual salary of 

twenty-five hundred dollars, payable in equal monthly installments, 

and the said commissioners shall henceforth receive no other com-· 

pensation than that provided under this act. The governor. of this 

State shall "haYe power to remove any commissioner from office for 

canst' during his terin of office, and upon removal to fill the vacancy· 

thus occasioned for the unexpired term~· In making appointments, 

either for full terms or to fill vacancies, regard shall be had by the 

governor both to .ability and fitness, and also to locality, so that each 

section of the district may be represented as far as practicable .. No 

commissioner shall be directly or indirectly interested in any contract 

awarded under (he provisions of this act, nor in furnishing materials or 

supplies therefor to any contractor, nor in furnishing security for the 

performance of any contract. If at any time it shall appear to the. 

satisfaction of the governor of this State that any commissioner is or 

has been so interested, or is or has been a stockholder in any corporation furnishing material or suppplies to any contractor for work done 

or to be done under the provisions of this act, or that he is the owner of . 

any lands or water or water rights taken or to be taken or used in or for 

the construction of any w~rk under the provisions of this act, or a stockholder in any corporation owning or leasing any such lands or waters 

or water rights, it shall be the duty of the governor to remove such 

commissioner from office forthwith, and all contracts made by such 

sewerage commissioners wherein any such commissione~ shall have 

been interested, directly or indirectly, as aforesaidf or otherwise, shall 

thereupon become and be null and void, and no further payments on 

account thereof shall be made by said sewerage commissioners. 

2. The said commissioners shall, on the first Tuesday in May of 

each year, at the hour of_ two o'clock in the afternoon, organize by 

the choice of one of their members as chairman of the board, and they 

may elect a treasurer, who may or may not be a member of the board, 

and a clerk, who may or may not be a member of the board, and may 

also from time to time appoint such other officers, attorneys, agents, 

employees, and servants, and such engineers and assistants as they 

may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this act, and may 

prescribe the duties and .fix the compensation of all officers, attorneys, 

agents, employees, servants, engineers, and assistants; and all appointees of said commissioners may be removed at their pleasure. 

The organization of said board and the appointment of officers, agents, 

clerks, servants, engineers, and assistants heretofore made by the 

said board shall have the same effect as if made under this act. 

3. The said commissioners heretofore appointed and their succes- · 

sors in office are and shall contiuue to be a body politic and corporate, 
92 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLL!JTION. [NO. 103. 

with perpetual succession under the name of "Passaic Valley sewerage commissioners," with power to sue and be sued, with power to 

adopt and use a corporate seal, and the right, power, and authority 

to acquire, hold, use, and dispose of all such property;, real and personal, as maybe proper or necessary, and with all othel'powers proper 

or necessary to carry out and effectuate the purposes for which said 

board is created. 

4. The board of Passaic Valley sewerage commissioners, incorporated as aforesaid, is hereby given full power and ~uthority to make, 

construct, maintain, and operate intercepting, main, trunk, and ou.t~ 

let sewers with the necessary pipes, conduits, pumping works, and 

other appliances for the purpose of taking up, within the said Pas" 

saic Valley sewerage district, sewage and other:offensive and deleterious matter which would or might otherwise :pollute the streams 

and rivers in said district and convey the saine to som.e·propel' place or 

places of deposit, discharge, or outfall in theN ew York Bay, within' the 

State of New Jersey, to be selected by the said, seweragecommissimiers, 

there to be discharged, which place· or places of deposit, discharge, or 

out-fall shall be at least one and one-quarter miles, measured at right 

angles, in an easterly direction, from the-exterior line', for solid filling 

in the New York Bay, as now established by the riparian commissioners. of this State, and in a tidal channel of not less than forty 

feet in depth at meanlo.w water; and the said sewerage commissioners 

shall also have power to establish within said sewerage district, when 

necessary, sewage disposal works and works for the treatment, disinfecting, and disposal of sewage: Provided, however, That no sewage 

disposal work and works for the treatment, disinfecting, and disposal of 

sewage shall be erected, established, or maintained within the distance of five miles from the outfall of said trunk sewer herein provided for: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall in 

any way be construed to allow or perrnit said 'sewerag~ commission 

to establish or build more than one sewage disposal works or more 

than one plant or works for the treatment, disinfecting or disposal of 

sewage; no contract of any kind shall be awarded at any one time 

for more than one million dollars: Provided; however, That this provision shall not apply to the sale of bonds.· All work done and 

materials purchased in the prosecution of said work or works, the 

cost of which shall exceed five thousand dollars, Shall be by contract 

awarded, after due advertisement; to the lowest responsible bidder,· 

and all contractors shall be required'to give bonds satisfactory in 

security and amount to the said board; and no· contract involving an. 

expenditure of more than twenty-five thousand dollars shall be awarded 

until after the same shall have been submitted to and approved by 

the governor: Provided, That no contract for any of the work herein 

required to be "performed by contract shall be awarded except on the 

express stipulation that so for· as practicable all said work shall be 
GOODELL.] SEVERE ST.A.TUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 93 

performed by union labor, and preference shall be given to citizens 

of the state of New Jersey. 

5. It shall be the duty of .all persons, corporations, and municipali-

. ties owningn)r controlling the sewers or drains within the limits of 

said sewer.age district, which discharge directly or indirectly into the 

streams or, avers within the said sewerage .district any sewage or 

deleterious.matter, to cause the same to be connected with and to be· 

discharged into the sewers constructed by the said sewerage commissioners when.the same shall have been constructed, and at the places 

which shall have been designated for that purpose l)y the said sewerage commiRsioners; all sewers and drains hereafter constructed by 

any person, corporation, or municipality within the said sewerage 

district conveying or discharging sewage or other deleterious matter, 

which might otherwise discharge into or be discharged into the streams 

or rivers within the said sewerage district, directly or indirectly, shall 

be so constructed that the outfall or discharge therefrom shall be delivered into the drains or sewers provided by the said sewerage commissioners at the points and p .. aces designated by the said commissioners; 

and it shall be the duty of the said sewerage commissioners, in constructing said intercepting or. main sewers, to havA them so constructed that connection therewith can be made at necessary or proper · 

points; and all such connections shall be made in accordance with the 

rules and regulations from time to time adopted by the said sewerage 

commissioners in relation thereto, and under the direction and supervision of their officers and agents, and all such connections shall be 

the property of such sewerage commissioners; the main, intercepting 

or trunk s~wer to be constructed by the said sewerage commissioners 

shall commence at or near the Valley of Rocks, in the city of Paterson, and shall extend to the point of discharge or outfall in the New 

York Bay, wit4in the limits of the State of New Jersey; before any 

moneys expended or obligations are incurred for the construction of 

any trunk or outlet sewer which shall discharge into New York Bay, 

the said board shall carefully investigate whether said discharge is 

likely to pollute the waters of said bay within the jurisdiction of the 

State of New York to such an extent or in such a degree as to cause a 

nuisanee to persons or property within said State, and shall present 

the result of their investigation to the governor with their opinion 

thereon and the reasons for their opinion; and thereupon the same 

shall be considered by the governor and the attorney-general, and no 

work shall be done or further proceedings t.aken unless the attorneygeneral shall, in writing,' advise that no cause of action either for 

damages or an injunction will arise in favor of the State of New' York 

or any of its inhabitants by reason of such discharge of sewage into 

the waters of New York Bay, and the governor shall, by order, in 

writing, advise said board that in his judgment it is safe and prudent 

to proceed with its work, due regard being had to. all the risks and 

dangers of injunctive litigation. 
94 LAWS FORBIDDING INL.AND·W.ATER POLLUTION. - [No.103. 

6. The said sewerage commissioners shall have power and authority 

to purchase and acquire lands and rights or interests in lands within 

and without the said sewerage district which may be deemed necessary for the construction of sewers, drains; disposal, pumping or other 

works authorized by this act, but- no ventilating plant, sewage disposal works, or works for the treatment, disinfecting, or disposal of 

sewage shall be erected or maintained outside of said sewerage district; and if in any case the said sewerage commissioners shall be 

unable to agrewwith the owner or owners of any lands or rights or 

interests in lands deemed necessary by said sewerage commissioners 

in the construction and prosecution of the work hereby aut,horized, 

or when by reason of legal incapacity or absence of such owner or 

owners no agreement can be made for the purchase thereof, the lands 

or rights or interests in lands so deemed necessary for the purposes of 

this act shall be acquired by condemnation by the said sewerage commissioners in the manner provided by the general laws of this State 

relating to the condemnation of lands for public uses: Provided, That 

no private property shall be taken for the purposes of this act without 

compensation therefor shall have first been made or tendered to the 

owner or owners thereof, or, in lieu thereof; paid to the clerk of the 

county in which the lands taken are located for the use of the person 

or persons entitled to receive the same; and in case such payment or 

tender to the owner or owners, or payment into court, is made by the 

said sewerage commissioners upon the award of commissioners, the 

said sewerage commissioners shall be entitled to take immediate possession of the property so condemned, notwithstanding 'any appeal, 

and the acceptance by the owner or owners of the lands or rights so 

condemned of any award of commissioners shall not interfere with or 

prevent the taking of any appeal provided by law. 

- 7~ The said board of sewerage commissioners shall have power to 

construct any sewer or drain by it to be made or constructed under or 

over any water course, under or over or across or along any street, 

turnpike, railway, canal, highway, or other way, and in_ or upon private or public lands, and in or upon lands of this State and under 

waters of this State, in such manner, however, as not unnecessarily to 

obstruct or impede t.ravel or navigation, and may enter upon and dig 

up any street, road, highway, or private or public lands either within 

or without the said sewerage district for the purpose of constructing 

or laying sewers or drains upon or beneath the surface thereof, and 

for maintaining and operating the .. same, and in general may do· all 

other acts or things necessary, convenient, and proper to carry out 

the purposes of this act; but no part of said sewer where laid under 

the waters of this State beyond the exterior lines for solid filling, as 

established by the riparian <'ommissioners of this State, shall in said 

Newark Bay be above ali elevation of thirty feet below mean low 

water, or shall in said New York Bay be above an elevation of thirty-
oooD.ELL.] SEVERE ST.ATUTJ!) RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 95 

five feet below mean low water;· and the said board of sewerage commissioners shall have power, for the purpose of carrying such sewage 

or other matter to the place of deposit or discharge in New York Bay, 

to construct sewers within territory outside of the said sewerage district, and with its sewers, pipes, and drains to pass through or partly 

through the territory of municipalities outsid~ of said sewerage district; and whenever the said board shall dig up any road, street, or 

highway as aforesaid, it shall, as far as possible, restore the same to 

as good condition and order as the same was when such digging commenced: Provided, however, That when such streets, .roads, or highways lie outside of such "'ewerage district, the laying down of sewers 

or drains under or. a.cross said streets, roads, or highways shall be 

subject to such police regulations of the governing bodies of such 

municipalities as are applicable and enforceable in the construction of 

sewers or drains for such municipality. 

8. The saiq sewerage commissioners shall have power and authority 

to alter or change the course or direction of any water course, and, 

with the consent of the township committee of any township and of 

the board or body having control of the streets or highways in ariy city, 

town, or other municipality, to alter or change t~e grade or location of 

any highway, public street, or way crossed by any sewer or drain to 

be constructed under the J!rovisions of this act. 

· 9. The said board of sewerage commissioners may, by its officers, 

agents, servants, and employees, enter at all times upon any lands or 

waters within or withoutJhe said sewerage district for the purpose of 

exploring, surveying, leveling, and laying out the route of any drain or 

sewer, locating any disposal, pumping, or other works, establishing 

. grades, and doing all necessary preliminary work; doing, however, no 

unnecessary damage or injury to private property. 

10. The said board of sewerage commissioners shall at all times keep 

full and accurate accounts of its receipts, expenditures, disbursements, 

and liabilities, and shall annually cause a detailed statement thereof 

to be published and a copy thereof mailed to the secretary of state of 

this State and to the clerk of each of th~ municipalities in the distr!ct. 

The fiscal year of said sewerage commissioners shall end on the first 

Tuesday of May in each year, and said report so to be published shall 

be a report for the previous fiscal year, and shall be made ·as soon 

after the end of each fiscal year as conveniently may be; and the 

mayor or chief officer of any city or other municipality included 

within said drainage district shall be given full access to all the bo:>ks, 

accounts, and vouchers .of the said board, at aU reasonable times, for 

the purpose of examination and report in the interest of such municipalities, respectively, and of the taxpayers therein. 

11. To provide for the payment of costs and expenses incurred or 

to be incurred by the said sewerage com missioners for the purchase 

of laii.ds, rights, or interests in lands or other property or rights, and 
96 LAWS l<'ORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [Nd. 103. 

in the construction of said disposal works, pumping stations, sewers, 

drains, and all other work~ by them t~ be constructed, and for engineering, administrative, and other expenses· connected therewith. 

including interest during construction, said board of sewerage COil!· 

missioners shall have power from time to time to issue its corporate 

bonds in an amount . not to exceed nine million dollars and not to 

exceed the tot-al estimated cost and. expenses of the whole work; such 

bonds shall be in the form and payable at a time not exceeding fifty 

years from the date the1eof and at such places, and either in currency or coin, as the said sewerage commissjoners .may determine; 

such bcinds shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding four per centl.1m 

per annum, payable semiannually; all such bonde shall be signed by 

the chairman of the said board of sewerage commissioners and countersigned by the treasurer, and shall be sealed with its corporate seal, 

attested by the clerk; in issuing ~uch bonds the board of sewerage 

commissioU:ers inay, in its discretion, make the same or any part 

thereof fall due at stated periods less than fifty years from the date 

of issue, and may reserve in said bonds an option to redeem or pay 

the same or any part thereof at stated, periods at any time between 

the date thereof and the date at which they would otherwise fall due; 

the said bonds may be either coupon ·or registered. bonds or partly 

coupon and partly registered bonds, and all such bonds may be 

negotiated, sold, aud disposed of at.not,less than their par. value, arid 

the same or the proceeds thereof may be used by the said sewerage 

commissioners for the purposes aforesaid; the said board of sewerage 

commissioners shall keep the cost and expenses of the construction of 

its plant-in which shal~ be inCluded the cost of lands, rights, or interests in lands, and the cost of all other property and rights, and the 

cost of construction of all works, including engineering expensPs, 

administrative expenses, and legal expenses, and including interest 

during the course of construction-separate from the cost and expenses 

of maintenance, operation, and repairs; all sales of bonds shall be 

made after public notice and advertisement calling for bids and shall 

be made to the highest responsible bidders. 

12. The said board of sewerage commissioners may, in anticipation 

of the issuing of bonds, and from time to time as it may need money, 

borrow such RUm or sums of money, not exceeding at any one time 

one-fifth of the estimated cost of the whole work, and may issue its 

certificates of .indebtedness, promissory notes, or other obligations 

therefor, retiring the same from time to time aR the bonds hereinbefore authorized to be issued are sold. In order that the said bonds 

issued for the purchase of land, rights in land, and for the construction of the works, plant and extensions, betterments and improvements thereof may he paid and retired at maturity, the sewerage 

commissioners shall provide a proper and suitable sinking fund not 

exceeding in amount. to be raised in any one year one per centum of 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE REST~IOTIONS-NEW JERSEY.. 97 

the face value of the bonds issued, which sum shall be raised annually, beginning with the fifth'year after the issuing of said bonds; at 

the time and in the manner herein provided for the raising of the 

moneys necessary to pay the interest on said bonds. The money s0 

raised for sinking-fund purposes shall be kept in a separate account 

by the treasurer of the board of sewerage commissioners, and shall, 

under its direction, be used or invested from time to time in the pur-

. chase or retirement of its own bonds, or in the purchase of securities 

in which savings banks and savings institutions of this State are 

authorized to invest. 

13. All indebtedness of the said board of sewerage commissioners 

incurred for the purchase of lands, rights ·or interests in land or other 

property, and in the construction of its works or plant, or otherwise 

lawfully incurred, pursuant to the· provisions of this act, whether 

such inde\>tedness is represented by bonds, certificates of indebted-

.ness, pro:uiissory notes, or other form of ·indebtedness, with interest 

accrued or to accrue thereon, shall be a charge upon all persons 

and property in the municipal or taxing districts lying in whole or I 

in pa.rt within said sewerage district as fully as the legislature of 

this !state shall have power to authorize the same; and all bonds, 

certificates of indebtedness, promissory notes and other obligations 

issued by the said board of sewerage commissioners shall be free 

from all State, county, municipal, and other taxes, and the property, 

real and personal, of the said board of sewerage commissioners held 

by it under authority of this act, wherever situated, shall in like manner be free from taxation. 

14. The said sewerage commissioners shall, on or before the fifteenth 

day of June in each year, ascertain and determine the amount of 

money necessary to be raised for the payment of interest upon bonds 

and other indebtedness and for sinking-fund charges for the current 

fiscal year, and shall apportion the same among the respective municipalities and taxing districts lying in whole or in part within said 

sewerage district, in such proP.ortion as the taxable ratables within 

so much of said municipality or taxing district as is embraced within 

said sewera:ge district bears to the total amount of taxabl~ ratables 

within the whole of said sewerage district, as returned and certified 

by the respective taxing boards and taxing officers of the said municipalities or taxing districts for the preceding year: Provided, however, 

that all ratables in said district for this purpose be assessed at their· 

true value; and it shall be the duty of each assessor, taxing board, or 

taxing officer for the several municipalities and taxing districts lying 

in whole or in part wj.thin said sewerage district for this purpose, to 

examine, compute, determine, and certify to the said sewerage board 

annually, and by the first day of April of each year, the amount of 

taxable property or ratables assessed in the last preceding year to or 

IRR .103-+-04--7 
98 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. [No.lOO. 

upon persons and property Within so much of the several municipalities and taxing districts as lie within the said sewerage district, and 

the books of each of the said assessors, taxing boards, and taxing 

officers shall' at all times be open for examination by the board of 

sewerage commissioners, its officers. and agents, for the purpose of 

examining, checking, and, if necessary, correcting said certificates. 

15. The said board of sewerage commissioners shall, on or before 

the fifteenth day of June in each year, ascertain and determine as 

near as may be the amount of money necessary to be raised for operating, maintaining, and repairing its works and plant for the current 

fiscal year, and shall apportion the money so estimated to be necessary among the several municipalities or taxing districts lying. in 

whole or in part within said sewerage district according to the amount 

of sewage by them respectively delivered to or discharged into any · 

sewers or other receptacles provided or constructed by the said sewer-. 

age commissioners for the reception thereof. Before such apportionment is finally made and adopted by the sewerage commissioners for 

any year and on the fourth Tuesday of May, at two o'clock in the 

afternoon, the said sewerage commission shall sit at its principal office 

for the purpose of hearing such municipalities as desire to be heard 

upon the apportionment of the estimated amount of money required 

for the operation, maintenance, and repair of said works and plant, 

but the apportionment when made by the said sewerage commissioners 

shall be final and conclusive; in case, however, the estimate of 

moneys necessary to be raised in any year for operating, maintaining, 

and repairing the works and plant of the sewerage commissioners 

shall, at the end of the year, be found to have been too low, the 

deficiency shall be made good by adding the same to the estimated 

amount required for operating, maintaining, and repairing the said 

wo~ks for the next succeeding year; and if said estimate shall be 

found too have been excessive, then such excess shall be deducted 

from the estimate for the next succeeding year. 

16. The said board of sewerage COIJlmissioners shall, on or before. 

the twentieth day of June in each year, order and cause a tax to be 

levied and assessed upon all persons and property within each of the 

municipal and taxing districts lying in whole or in part within said 

sewerage district, for the purpose of raising the money necessary to 

pay ~nterest upon its bonds and other indebtedness and necessary 

sinking-fund charges and for the sum or sums of money estimated as 

necessary to provide for the proper maintenance and operation of its 

works and pla.nt, and for all the other expenses of the said sewerage 

commissioners, and to this end it shall, on or before the twentieth day 

of June in each year,.certify to the tax assessor, taxing board, or taxing officer of each of said municipalities or taxing districts lying in 

whole or in part within said sewerage district, the amount of tax 

required to be levied, assessed, and raised in each of th~ir respective . . 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW JERSEY. 99 

municipalities and taxing districts for said purposes; and the said 

assessors, taxing boards, and taxing officers shall assess said sums so 

directed to be assessed (and certified to them) upon all the persons 

and property within their respective m11nicipalities or taxing districts 

liable to be assessed for State or county taxes, and the said tax shall 

be levied, assessed, and collected by the same officers at the same 

time and in the same manner and with the same effect as State or 

county taxes are required to be levied, assessed, and collected Within 

said municipalities or taxing districts; and the taxes so levied upon 

real estate in said municipalities and taxing districts shall be and 

remain a first and paramount lien thereon until paid. 

17. Out of the first moneys collected in any year in any municipality or taxing district, and not required by law to be paid to the 

. county collector for State or county purposes, it shall be the duty of 

the disbursing officer or officers of such municipality or taxing district to pay to the treasurer of the sewerage commissioners the sum 

or sums of money directed by said sewerage commissioners to be 

assessed, levied, and collected in such municipality or t,axing district. 

18. The said board of sewerage commissioners may, from time to 

time, in anticipation of the collection of moneys directed by it to be 

assessed, levied, and collected within the municipalities or taxing 

districts lying in whole or in part within its sewerage district, borrow 

such sum or sums of money as may be necessary for the payment of 

interest upon bonds or other indE>btedness, and for the payment of 

sinking-fund charges, and for the payment of its officers, agents, 

employees, and for all other necessary or proper expenses in maintaining and operating its works and plant, and the payment of the 

moneys so borrowed shall be secured by a lien upon said taxes as 

levied and assessed, or so directed to be levied and assessed, and said 

taxes when collected shall be applied to the payment of the moneys 

so borrowed; all loans made in pursuance of this section shall be 

after public notice and advertisement, and shall be made or taken 

from ,the person or persons offering the most favorable terms. 

19. If in any case the streams and rivers within the said Rewerage 

district are or may be polluted by sewage or other deleterious matter 

discharged therein, directly or indirectly, from any municipality or 

any part of a municipality lying without the said sewerage district, it 

shall and may be lawful for the said board of commissioners to enter 

into contract with such municipality for the disposal of all such sewage and deleterious matter, and every such municipality is hereby 

authorized to enter into such contract with the said board, and the 

said board may, in the constructions made by it under the authority 

of this act, make provisions for such disposal; such contracts may be 

made upon. such terms and for such lengths of time and for such 

annual or semiannual payments as shall be mutually agreed upon; 

and the municipalities and taxing districts so contracting shall have 
100 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [NO. 103. 

the power to raise annually, by taxation, the moneys necessary to 

make the payments required to be made under such contracts, or to 

use for this purpose any moneys not otherwise appropriated; and the 

moneys received by the said commissioners under such contracts shall 

be applied by them as follows: Two-thirds thereof to the payment of 

interest upon bonds issued by the said board, and one-third thereof 

to the payment of the expense of operation, maintenance, and repair 

of work. 

20. The said sewerage commissioners shall have within said sewer· 

age district powers exclusive of all other boards to protect the rivers 

and streams thereof from pollution and to prevent the pollution of 

the same, and t.o this end the said sewerage commissioners may prohibit the deposit or dis~harge into the rivers or streams within said 

sewerage district of any sewage or other matter or thing which may 

pollute the same; they may also in like manner prohibit or prevent 

the emptying into. any tributary of said rivers or streams, by any 

municipality or part of a municip~lity lying within the said sewerage 

district, of any sewage or other matter or thing which will directly or 

indirectly cause the rivers or streams within said sewerage district to 

be polluted; and the said board of sewerage commissioners may at 

any time, when it has reason to believe that any river or stream 

within its. district is being polluted by any such municipality or part 

of a municipality by deposit or discharge into said rivers, streams, or 

their tributaries of any sewage or other matter or thing which will 

pollute the same, or when such deposit or discharge is threatened, to 

apply by bill or petition to the court of chancery of this State for 

injunction to prevent the said pollution or threatened pollution of said 

rivers or streams or their tributaries, and the court of chaTI_;cery shall 

have power to hear and dispose of said petition or bills in a summary 

manner, and to grant any and all relief necessary to prevent said 

pollution or threatened pollution or the continuation of any pollution 

of said rivers, streams,· or their tributaries. 

21. The said board of sewerage commissioners shall have power 

from time to time to adopt all such reasonable rules and regulations 

for. its own government and the government of its officers and agents, 

and also for the use, protection, and management of its works, property, and plant, and for the protection of the rivers and streams 

within its district from pollution, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act and the laws of this State. 

22. The chairman shall preside at all meetings of the sewerage 

commissioners, and shall, with the treasurer, sign all bonds, promissory notes, certificates of indebtedness, and other obligations of the 

board; he shall also countersign all checks; in the absence of the 

chairman, or in case he is incapacitated by illness or- other cause, the 

sewerage commissioners shall have power to elect an acting chairman, who for the time being shall have all the powers and perform 
GOODELL.] SEVERE BTA':rUTE REBTRIOTIONS-NEW YORK. 101 

all the duties of the chairman; the treasurer shall give bond in such 

sum as the sewerage commissioners may determine, and shall be the 

receiving and disbursing officer of the said sewerage commissioners, 

and all moneys required by law to be paid to said sewerage commissioners shall be paid to the treasurer thereof, and shall be by him 

deposited in such bank or banks of deposit or trust company or trust 

companies in this State as shall be determined upon by the said 

sewerage commissioners;. all disbursements shall be by check, signed 

by the treasurer and countersigned by the chairman; the clerk shall 

have charge of the seal of the corporation and shall affix it to such 

instruments as he shall be directed by the sl'!'id board, and he shall 

attest the same; he shall keep full minutes of all the meetings of the 

board and of its committees and shall perform all such other duties 

as he may be directed by the said bo!1rd of commissioners to perform; 

no deposit of moneys in the charge of the said board shall be made 

in any bank or trust company except upon the condition that the 

said board shall receive interest at the rate of not less than two per 

centum per annum upon the said deposits. . 

23. In case for any reason any section or any provision of this act 

shall be questioned in any court and shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, the same shall not be held to affect any other section or provision of this act. 

24 . .All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby 

repealed; and this act shall take effect immediately . 

.Approved .April 22, 1903 .. 

NEW YORK. 

[Revised Statutes, 3d ed. (C. F. Birdseye), vol. 2, pp. 2822ff, Article V: Public health law.] 

POTABLE WATERS. 

SEC. 70. Rule{J and regulations of State board.-The State board 

of health may make rules and regulations for the protection from 

.contamination 9f any or all public supplies of potable waters and 

their sources within the State. If any such rule or regulation relates 

to a temporary source or act of contamination, any person violating 

such rule or regulation shall be liable to prosecution for misdemeanor 

for every such violation, and on conviction shall be punished by a 

fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both. If any such rule or regulation relates to a 

permanent source or act of contamination, said. board may impose 

penalties for the violation thereof or the noncompliance therewi,th, 

not exceeding two hundred dollars for every such violation or noncompliance. Every such rule or regulation shall be published at least 

one~ in each week for six consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper of the county where the waters to which it relates are located. 

The cost of such publication shall be paid by the corporation or 

municipality benefited by the protection of the water supply to which 
102 L.AWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W.ATER POLLUTION. [No.lOO. 

the rule or regulation published relates. The affidavit of the printer, 

publisher, or proprietor of the newspaper in which such rule or regu· 

lation is published may be filed with the rule or regulation published in the county clerk's office of such county, and such affidavit 

and rule and regulation shall be conclusive evidence of such publica~ 

tion and of all the facts therein stated in. all courts and places. 

SEC. 71. Inspection of water supply.-The officer or board having 

by law the management and control of the potable water supply of 

any municipality, or the corporation furnishing such-supply, may 

ni.ake such inspection of the sources of such water supply as such officer, board, or corporation deems it advisable, and to ascertain 

whether the rules orreguh,ttions of the State board are complied with. 

If any such inspection discloses a violation of any such rule or regulation relating to a permanent source or act of contamination, such 

officer, board, or corporation shall cause a copy of the rule or regula· 

tion violated to be served upon the person violating the same with a 

notice of such violation. If the person served does not immediately 

comply with the rule or regulation, violated, such officer, board, or 

corporation shall notify the State board of the violation, which shall 

.· immediately examine into such violation, and if such person is found 

by the State board to have actually violated such rule or regulation, 

the secretary of the State board shall order the local board of health 

of su~h municipality to convene and enforce obedience to such rule 

or regulation. If the local board fails to enforce such order within 

ten days after its receipt, the corporation furnishing such water supply, or the municipality deriving its water supply from the watNs to 

which such rule or regulation relates, may maintain an action in a 

court of record, which shall be tried in the county where the cause of 

action arose against such person, for the recovery of the penalties 

incurred by such ·violation, and for an injunction restraining him 

from the continued violation of such rule or regulation. 

· SEc. 71 a. Rules and regulations legalized.-All rules and regulations heretofore duJy made and published for the sanitary protection 

of public water supplies, pursuant to chap. 543 of the la'ws of 1885 

and chap. 661 of the laws of 1893, as amended, are hereby legalized, 

ratified, confirmed, and continued in force until new rules and 'regulations become operative. 

SEc. 71 b. Construction of act.-This act shall not be construed to 

repeal or afl'ect any of the provisions of chap. 378 of laws of 1897, or 

its amendments. 

SEc. 72. Sewerage.-When the State board of health shall, for the 

protection of a water supply from contamination, make orders or regulations the execution of which will require or make necessary the 

construction and maintenance of any system of sewerage, or a change 

there0f, in, 'gr for a.ny village or ha.mlet, whether incorporated or unincor·porated; or the execution of which will require the providing of 

some' public means of removal or purification of sewage, the munici-
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW YORK. 103 

pality or corporation owning the waterworks benefited thereby shall, 

at its own expense, construct and maintain such system of sewerage, 

or change thereof, and provide such means of removal and purification 

of sewage and such works or means of sewage disposal as shall be 

approved by the State board of health. When the execution qf any 

such regulations qf the State board of health will occasion or require 

the removal of any building or buildings the municipality or corporation owning the water~orks benefited thereby shall, at its own expense, 

remove such buildings and pay to the owner thereof all the damages 

occasioned by such removal. 

When the execution of any such regulation will injuriously affect 

any manufacturing or industrial enterprise which is not a public 

nuisance, such municipality or corporation shall pay all damages 

occasioned by the enforcement thereof. Until such construction or 

change of such system or systems of sewerage, and the providing of 

such means of removal or purification of sewage, and such works or 

means or sewage disposal and the removal of any building, are so 

made by the municipality or corporation owning the waterworks to 

be benefited thereby at its own expense there shall be no action or 

proceeding taken by such municipality or corporation against any 

person or corporation for the violation of any regulation of the State 

board of health under this article, and no person or corporation shall 

be considered to have violated or refused to obey ariy such rule or 

regulation. The owner of any building the removal of which is occasioned or required, or which has been removed by any rule or regulation of the State board of health made under the provisions of this 

article, and all persons whose rights of property are injuriously affected 

by the enforcement of any such rule or regulation, shall have a cause 

of action against the municipality or corporation owning the waterworks benefited by the enforcement of such rule or regulation for all 

damages occasioned or sustained by such removal or enforcement, 

and an action therefor may be brought against such municipality or 

corporation in any court of record in the county in which the premises 

or property affected is situated and shall be tried therein; or such 

damages may be determined by a special proceeding in the supreme 

court or the county court of the county in which the property is 

situated. Such special proceedings shall be commenced by petition 

and notice to be served by such owner upon the municipality or corporation in the same manner as for the commencement of condemnation proceedings. Such municipality or corporation may make and 

serve an answer to such petition as in condemnation proceedings. 

The petition and answer shall set forth the claims of the respective 

parties, and the provisions of the condemnation law shall be applicable 

to the subsequent proceedings upon the petition and answer, if any, 

Either party may, before the service of the petition or answer, respectively, offer to take or pay a certain sum, and no costs shall be 
104 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. [No.103. 

awarded against either party unless the judgment is more unfavorable to him than his offer. 

SEC. 72 a. Actions by mwnicipalities.:_Any incorporated city or village in the State of New York which has made such provision for the 

disposal of its sewage as not to pollute or contaminate therewith any 

river, stream, lake, or other body of water may have and maintain an 

action in the supreme court to prevent the discharge of any sewage or 

substance deleterious to health, or which shall injure the potable 

qualities of the water in any river, stream, lake, or other body of 

. water from which such incorporated city or village shall take or 

receive its water supply; provided, that such river, stream, lake; or. 

other body of water is wholly or in part within the boundaries of the 

county in which such plaintiff is located. 

SEC. 72 b. Duty of swpreme court.-Whenever such action shall be 

brought under the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the. 

supreme court, upon proof of the existence of facts justifying the 

bringing and maintenance of such action under the provisions of 

this act, to render a judgment in which shall be incorporated a mandatory injunction requiring the person, body, board, corporation, 

municipality, village, county, or town being a defendant to said 

action which directly or indirectly, or by its servants, agents, or officers, shall discharge· or dispose of its sewage or any other ~mbstance 

deleterious to liealth, which shall injure the potable qualities of the 

water in such wise as that the same shall enter into any river, stream, 

lake, or other body of water from which such plaintiff shall take or 

receive its water supply, within such reasonable time as may be prescribed by the court, to take such action as shall prevent such discharge, 

or the disposal of such sewage or ot4er substance into such waters, or 

the pollution thereof, with such further directions in the premises as 

may be proper and desirable to effect -such purpose; provided, that 

such river, stre_am, lake, or other body of water is wholly or in part 

within the boundaries of the county in which such plaintiff is located. 

SEC. 72 c. Examination by State board of health.-But no such 

action shall be brought as provided for in section 2 (i. e., 72 b) of this 

act until the State board of health has examined and determined 

whether the sewage does pollute or contaminate the river, stream, 

lake, or other body of water into which said sewage is discharged. 

The expense of such examination by said board shall be a charge 

upon and paid by the municipality in whose interest and on whose 

bebalf such examination is made. 

SEC. 72 d. Approval of plans.-'-In case the State board of health 

shall find upon examination that the discharge of said sewage does 

pollute or contaminate said waters, or any of them, in such manner 

as to be of menace or danger to the health of those using said waters, 

the plans for the removal or disposal of the sewage ordered to be pre-

_pared by the court as provided in section 2 (i. e.; 72 b) shall be submitted to the State board of health for it.s approval. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-NEW YORK. 105 

[Laws of 1901, vol. 3, p. 214, charter of New York City.] 

SEC. 481. It shall not be lawful for any person to throw· or deposit, 

or cause to be thrown .or deposited, in any lake, pond, or stream; or 

in any aqueduct from or through which any part of the water supply 

of the city of New York shall be drawn, or either of the reservoirs, 

any dead animal or other offensive matter or anything whatever. 

Any person offending against the provisions of this section shall be 

deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall 

be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the. 

court, such fine not to exceed the sum of one hundred dollars and 

such imprisonment not to exceed a period of three months, such 

imprisonment to be in the jail of the county in which the offense 

shall have been committed. 

SEc. 482. If any person shall willfully do or cause to be done any 

act whereby any work, materials, or property whatever, erected or 

used, or hereafter to be erected or used, within the city or elsewhere 

by the said city, or by any person acting under their authority, for 

the purpose of procuring or keeping a supply of water, shall in any 

manner be injured, or shall erect or place any nuisance -On the banks 

of any river, lake, or stream from which the water supply of said city 

shall be drawn, or shall throw anything into the aqueduct or into any 

reservoir or pipe; such person on conviction thereof shall be deemed 

guilty of a misdemeanor. · 

Section 483 author~zes the commissioner of water supply, gas, and 

electricity to carry out the provisions of this act and to prevent contamination. 

Section 484 authorizes proceedings to acquire title of lands necessary for this purpose. 

By laws of 1893, chapter 661, section 73, the discharge of sewage 

or other matter deleterious to public health or destructive to fish into 

Wallkill Creek, in the counties of Ulster and Orange, is prohibited, 

and section 7 4 of the same act contains a· similar protection for the 

Susquehanna River or any of its tributaries between the Rock Bottom dam in such river at the city of Binghamton and a point one 

mile east of the bridge that crosses such river at Conklin. 

Law of 1893 was amended by an act passed in 1903, adding the following sections: 

[Laws of 1903, chap. 468; became a law May 7, 1903, with the approval of the governor; passed, 

a majority being present.] 

AN ACT to amend the public health law relative to the discharge of sewage and 

other refuse or waste matter into the waters of this State. 

T-he people of the State of New York, represented in senate and 

assembly, do enact as follows: 

SEC. 1. Public health law amended.-Article 5 of chapter 661 of the 

laws of 1893, entitled "An act in relation to the public health, con-
106 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No. lOS. 

stituting chapter 25 of the general laws," as amended by chapter 25"1 

of the law!i of 1899, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof 

the following new sections: ' 

SEC. 75. Discharge of sewage and other refuse matter in certain 

waters proh~oited. -No person, corporation, or municipality shall 

place or cause to be placed, or discharge or cause to be discharged, 

into any of the waters of this State, unless the same shall have been 

permitted by the State commissioner of health, any sewage, garbage, 

offal, dead animal, dead fish, dead bird or part thereof, or any decomposable or putrescible matter of any kind, or any substance, chemical 

or otherwise, containing the s;;tme in quantities injurious to the public 

health, or any refuse or waste matter, either solid or liquid, in quantities injurious to the public health, fro~ any shop, factory, mill, or 

industrial establishment, unless express permission to do so shall 

have been first given in writing by the State commissioner of· health, 

as provided in this article, except as hereinafter provided. But this 

act shall not prevent the discharge of sewage from any public sewer 

system owned and maintained by a municipality, or the discharge of 

refuse or waste matter from any shop, factory, mill, or industrial 

establishment, provided such sewer system was in operat.ion and was 

discharging sewage, or such shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment was in operation and discharging refuse or waste matter, 

into any of the waters of this State at or prior to the time of the passage of this act, nor to any extension or modification of such shop, 

factory, mill, or industrial establishment, or reconstruction thereof,. 

provided the refuse or waste matter discharged therefrom is not 

materially changed or increased; but this exception shall not permit 

any increase in the discharge of such sewage, nor shall it permit the 

discharge of sewage from a sewer system which shall be extended, 

modified, or reconstructed subsequent to the passage of this act. 

SEC. 76. Permission to discharge sewage.-Upon application duly 

made to the State commissioner of health by the public authorities 

having by law the charge of the sewer system of any municipality, 

the State commissioner of health shall have power to co:Q.sider the 

case of a sewer system otherwise prohibited by this -act from discharging sewage into any of the waters of the State, _and whenever in 

his opinion the general interests of the pul,>lic health would be subserved thereby, he may issue a permit for the discharge of sewage 

from any such sewer system into any of the waters of the State, and 

may stipulate in the permit modifications, regulations, and conditions on which euch discharge may be permitted. Such permit before 

being operative shall be recorded in the county clerk's office of the 

county wherein the outlet of the said sewer system is located, and a 

copy of the permit shall be transmitted by the State commissioner of 

health to the board of health of the municipality wherein the outlet 

of said sewer system is locf!>ted. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW YORK. 107 

SEC. 77. Perrnission to discharge refuse or waste rnatter frorn 

industrial establishrnents.-Upon application duly made to the State 

commissioner of health by the proprietor, lessee, or tenant of any 

shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment from which the discharge of refuse or waste matter into any of the waters of the State 

is otherwise prohibited by this act, the State commissioner of health 

shall have power to consider the case of the said shop, factory, mill, 

or industrial establishment, and whenever the public health and 

purity of the waters shall warrant it he shall issue a permit for the 

discharge of refuse or waste matter from such shop, factory, mill, or 

industrial establishment into any of the waters of the State, and may 

stipulate in the permit such modifications, regulations, and conditions 

as the public health may require. Such permit, before being operative, shall be recorded in the county clerk's office of the county where 

such shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment is located, and a 

copy of such permit shall be transmitted by the State commissioner of 

health to the board of health of the municipality wherein the outlet 

discharging refuse or waste matter from such shop, factory, mill, or 

industrial establishment shall be located. 

SEC. 77 a. Plans to be subrnitted.-Before any conduit or discharge 

pipe or other means of discharging or casting any refuse or waste 

matter from any shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment not 

constructed or in process of construction when this act takes effect 

shall be put in or constructed for the purpose of discharging any 

refuse or waste matter therefrom into any waters in this State, the 

plan or plans therefor, together with a statement of the purpose for 

which the same is to be used, shall be submitted to the commissioner. 

If the same is not detrimental to the public health he shall issue a 

permit therefor to the applicant. No such conduit, discharge pipe, or 

other means of discharging or casting any refuse or waste matter from 

any such shop, factory, mill, or establishment into any of the waters 

of this State shall be put in or constructed before such permit is 

granted, and if put in or constructed the person putting in or constructing or maintaining the same shall forfeit to the people of the 

State five dollars a day for each day the same is used or maintained 

for svch purpose, to be collected in an action· brought by the commissioner. He may also maintain an action in the name of the people to 

restrain a violation of this section. 

SEC. 78. Revocation ofperrnit.-Every such permit for the discharge 

of sewage from a sewer system or for the discharge of refuse or waste 

matter from a shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment shall, 

when necessary to conserve the public health, be revocable or subject 

to modification or change by the State commissioner of health on due 

notice after an investigation and hearing and an opportunity for all 

interested therein to be heard thereon being served on the public 

authorities of the municipality owning and maintaining the sewage 
108 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND-WATER POLLUTION. [No.100. 

system, or on the proprietor, lessee, or tenant of the shop, factory, 

mill, or industrial establishment. The length of the time after receipt 

of the notice within which the discharge of sewage or of refuse or 

waste matter shall be discontinued may be stated in the permit, but 

in no case shall it exceed two years in the case of a sewer system nor 

one year in the case of a shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment, and if the length of .time. is 'nov specified in the permit ~t shall 

be one year ii:t the case of a sewer system and six months in the case· 

of a· shop, factory, mill, or industriallestablishment. On the expiration of the period of time prescribed, after the. service of a notice of 

revocation, modification, or change f~om the State commissioner of . 

health; the right to discharge sewag~ or refuse or waste matter into 

any of the waters of the State shall c~ase and terminate, and the prohibition of this act against such di$charge shall be in full force as 

though no permit had been granted, but a new permit may thereafter 

again be granted as hereinbefore provided. 

SEc. 79. Reports of municipal authorities to local bo~rds of health.-

It shall be the duty of the public authorities having by law charge of 

the sewer system of every munioipali~y in the State, from which sewer 

system sewage was being discharged into any of the waters of the 

State at the time of the passage of tpis act, to file with the board of 

health of the municipality within wh~ch any sewer outlet of the said 

sewer system is located and within $ixty days after the passage of 

this act a report of each sewer sys~m having an outlet within the . 

municipality, which report shall com!frise such·facts and information 

as the State commissioner of health ,may require and on blanks or 

forms to be furnished by him on application. The board.of health 

of each municipality being satisfied 'as to the correctness and completeness of each report submitted toiit shall within thirty days after 

its receipt certify the same and trans:tD.it it to the State commissioner 

of health. Such report when satisfacetory to the State commissioner 

of health shall be filed by him in his; office: and shall constitute the 

evid-ence of exemption from the prqhibition of this act. No. sewer 

system shall be exempt from the prohibition of this act against the 

discharge of sewage into the waters of the State for which a satisfactory report shall not be filed iu the office of the State commissioner 

of health in accordance with this section. 

SEC. 79 a. Reports of proprietors of ·industrial establishments.-It 

shall be the duty of the proprietor of every shop, factory, mill, and 

industrial establishment in the State from which refuse or waste matter was being discharged into any of the waters of the State at the 

time of the passage of this act to file with the State commissioner of 

health within sixty days after the passage of this act a report of each 

shop, factory, mill, and industrial establishment from which refuse 

or waste matter was being discharged through an outlet within the 

municipality at the time of the passage of this act, which report shall 
) 

uoonEr,r,.] "SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-NEW YORK. 109 

comprise such facts and information in regard to the size, location, 

and character of shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment, the 

machinery in use therein, and the character· and quantity of goods 

produced .as the State commissioner of health may require and on 

blanks or forms to be furnished by him on application. Such report 

·shall be filed by him· in his office, and shall constitute the evidence of 

exemption of th~ shop, factory, mil~; or industrial establishment from 

the prohibition of this act. No shop, factory, mill, or industrial establishment shall be exempt from the prohibition of this act against the 

discharge of refuse or waste matter into the waters of the State, for 

which a report shall not be made as required by the State commissioner of health in accordance with this section. 

SEC. 79 b. Record of permits; inspection of local boards of health.-

Each board of health shall preserve in its office, and in a form to be 

prescribed by the State commissioner of health, a permanent record 

of each permit iss~d by the State commissioner of health granting 

the right to discharge sewage or refuse or waste matter into any of 

the waters of the State within that municipality and of each revocation of a permit; and also a permanent record of each report received 

by the board of health concerning each sewer system and each shop, 

factory, mill, or industrial establishment which at the time of the passage of this act was discharging sewage or refuse or waste matter into 

any of the waters of the State within that municipality. Each local 

board of health shall make and maintain such inspection as will at all 

times enable it to determine whether this act is being complied with 

in respect to the discharge of sewage, refuse, or waste matter or other 

materials prohibited by this act into a:ny of the waters of the State 

within that municipality. For the purpose of such inspection every 

member of such board of health, or its health officers, or any person 

duly authorized by it, shall have the right to make all necessary examinations of any premises, building, shop, factory, mill, industrial estab- · 

lishment, process, or sewage system. · 

SEc. 79 c. Violations; service of notice,· . actions by local boards.-

The local board of health of each municipality shall promptly ascertain every violation of or noncompliance with any of the provisions 

of this act or of the permits for the discharge of sewage or refuse or 

waste material into any of the waters of the State herein provided 

which may occur within that municipality. The board of health shall, 

on the discovery of every violation of. or noncompliance with any of 

the provisions of this act or of any permit duly issued, serve a 

written notice on the person or corporation responsible for the violation or noncompliance, together with a copy of this act and of the 

permit, if any, violated or noncom plied with, specifying the particular provision being violated or noncomplied with, and stipulating the 

length of time within which the violation or noncompliance must 

cea.se. If at the expiration of the stipulated length of time the vio-
110 L.A WS FORBIDDING INL.AND·W .ATER POLLUTION. [NO.l00. 

lation or noncompliance shall still continue, the board of health shall 

at once report the violation and noncompliance to the State. commissioner of health, who shall at once give a hearing to and take the 

proof of the persons charged with such violation or noncompliance 

and investigate the matter, and if he finds a violation or noncompliance to exist he shall at once certify the fact to the board of· 

health of the municipality, which shall immediately bring an action 

in a court of record, which action "shall be tried in the county wherein 

the cause of a~t4m arose against the person or corporation responsible for the violation or the noncompliance for the recovery of the 

penalties incurred and for an injunction against the continuation of 

the violation or the noncompliance. 

SEC. 79 d. Penalties.-The penalty for the discharge of sewage 

from any public sewer system into any of the .waters of the State 

without a duly issued permit for which a permit is required by this 

act shall be five hundred dollars, and a further penalty of fifty 

dollars per day for each day the offence is maintained. The penalty for the discharge of sewage from any public sewer system 

into any of the waters of the State without filing a report for 

which a report is required to be filed with the board of health of 

the municipality shall be fifty dollars. 'fhe penalty for the discharge of refuse or waste matter from any shop, factory, mill, or 

industrial establishment for which a permit is required by this act 

without such permit shall be one hundred dollars and ten dollars 

a day for each day the offence is maintained. The penalty for the 

discharge of refuse or waste matter from any shop, mill, factory, or 

industrial establishment without filing a report where a report. is 

. required by this act to be filed shall be twenty-five dollars and five 

dollars per day for each day the offence is maintai~ed. The penalty 

for discharging into any of the waters of the State any other matter 

prohibited by this act besides that specified above shall be twentyfive dollars and five dollars per day for each day the offence is 

maintained. 

SEC. 2. Common-law rights not affected.-Nothing in this act shall 

be construed to diminish or otherwise to modify the common-law rights 

of riparian owners in the quality of waters of streams covered by 

such rights, nor in the case of actions brought against the pollution of 

.waters to limit their remedy to indemnities. 

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect immediately. 

VERMONT. · 

[Statutes, 1894, p. 842, Preservation of public health.] 

SEC. 4695. If any person puts or causes to be put a dead animal or 

animal substance into or upon the bank of a lake, pond, running 

stream, or spring of water so that it is drawn or washed into the same, 

and suffers it to remain therein, he shall be fined not more than twenty 

. dollars and not less than five dollars. 
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRIOTIONS-VERMONT. 111 

[Laws of 1898, No. 150, p.115.] 

AN ACT in amendment of act No. 137 of the acts of 1894, relating to pollution of 

the waters of Missisquoi River. 

It is hereby enacted by the general assembly of the State of Vermont: 

SECTION 1, number 137, of the public acts of 1894, is hereby amended 

so as to read as follows: "A person owning or operating a mill who shall 

by himself or his agent deposit or suffer to be deposited any sawdust, 

shavings, or any mill refuse in the waters of the Missisquoi River 

above Enos burgh Falls, or in any of the. tributaries of said Missisquoi 

River above Enos burgh Falls, shall be fined not less than twenty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, iu the discretion of the court, 

for each offence." 

SEc. 2. This act shall take effect from March 1st, 1899. Approved 

November 16th, 1898. 

[Laws of 1002, No. 115, p. 144.] 

AN ACT to prevent the pollution of the sources of water supply. 

It is hereby enacted by the general assembly of the State of Vermont: 

SECTION 1. The State board of health shall have the general oversight and care of all waters, streams, and ponds used by any cities, 

towns, villages, or public institutions, or by any water or ice companies 

in this State as sources of water supply, and of all springs, streams, 

and water courses tributary thereto. It shall have power to call for, 

and when it calls for it shall be provided with maps, plans, and documents suitable for such purposes, at the expense of such city, town, 

village, public institution, water or ice company, and shall keep 

records of all its transactions relative thereto. 

SEC. 2. Said board may cause examinations of such waters to be 

made to ascertain the purity and fitness for domestic use, or their 

liability to impair the in"terests of the public or of persons lawfully 

using them or to imperil the public health. It may make rules and· 

regulations to prevent the pollution and to secure the sanitary protect,ion of all such waters as are used as sources of water supply. 

SEc. 3. The publication of an order, rule, or regulation made by 

the boarrl under the provisions of sec. 2 or sec. 6 hereof, in the newspaper of any towu or village in which such order, rule, or regulation 

is to take effect, or if no newspaper 'is published in such city, town, 

ot· village, the posting of a copy of such order, rule, or regulation in 

three public places in such city, town, or village, shall be legal notice 

to all persons, and an affidavit of such publication or posting·by the 

persons causing such to be published or posted, filed, and recorded 

with a copy of the notice in the office of the clerk of such city, town, 

or village shall be admitted as evidence of the time at which and the 

place and manner in whichthe notice was given. 

SEC. 4. Said board shall include in its biennial report to the general assembly its doings for the p.receding biennial term, and shall 

recommend measures for the prevention of the pollution of such 
112 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·W ATER POLLUTION. [No. lOS. 

waters and for the removal of polluting substances in order to protect and develop the rights and property of the State therein, and to 

protect the public health, and shall recommend any legislation or 

plans for systems of main sewers necessary for the preservation of the 

public health and for the purification and prevention of pollution of 

the ponds, streams, and waters of the State. It shall also give notice to 

the State's attorney for the county wherein any viol~tion of the law 

relative to the pollution of the water supplies occurs: It. shall have 

the power to employ such expert assistants as it considers necessary. 

SEc. 5. Cities, towns, villages, and persons shall submit to said 

board for its advice their proposed systems of public water supply or 

for the disposal of drainage or sewage. , Said boards shall consult 

with and advise the authorities of the cities, towns, villages, and 

persons having or about to have systems of public water supply, 

drainage, or sewage, as to th·e most appropriate sources of water 

supply, and the best methods of assuring its purity or as to the best. 

methods of disposing of their drainage or sewage, with reference 

to the existing and future needs of other cities, towns, villages, 

or persons which may be affected thereby. It shall also consult 

with and advise persons engaged or intending to. engage in any 

manufacturing or other business whose drainage or sewage may tend 

to pollute any water or source of water supply as to the. best method 

of preventing such pollution, and H. 1ay conduct experiments to 

to determine the best methods of purification or disposal of drainage 

or sewage. No person shall be required to ·bear the expense of such 

consultation, advice, or experiments. In this section the term 

"drainage" means the rainfall, surface, and subsoil water only, and 

"sewage" means domestic and manufacturing filth and-refuse. 

SEC. 6. Upon petition to said board by the mayor of a city, the 

selectmen of a town, the trustee or bailiff of a village, the managing 

board or officer of any public institution; or by a board of water commissioners, or the president of a water or ice company, stating that 

manure, ~xcrement, garbage, or any other matter is polluting or tending to pollute the water of any stream, pond, spring, or water course 

used by such city, town, village, institution, or company as a source 

of water supply, the board shall appoint a time and place within the 

county where the nuisance or pollution is alleged to exist, for hearing, 

and after notice thereof to parties interested and a hearing, if iii. its 

judgment. the public health so requires, shall, by an order served 

upon the party, company, or premises so polluted prohibit the deposit, 

keeping, or discharge of any such cause of pollution, and shall order 

him to desist therefrom and to remove any such cause of pollution; but 

the board shall not prohibit the cultivation or use of. soil in the ordinary methods of agriculture if no human excrement is used therefor. 

Said board shall not prohibit the use of any structure which was in 

existe.nce at the time of the passage of this act upon a complaint 

made by the board of water commissioners of any city, town, or vil-
GOODELL.] SEVERE STATUTE RESTRICTIONS-VERMONT. na 

lage, or by any water or ice company unless such board of water 

commissioners or company files wit,h the State board a vote of its city 

council, selectmen, trustees, ·or bailiffs, or company, respectively, 

that such city, town, village, or company will, at its own expense, 

make such change in said structure or its location as said board shall 

deem expedient. Such vote shall be binding on such city, town, 

village, or company. All damages caused by such change shall be 

paid by such city, town, village, or company, and if the parties can 

not agree thereon such city, town, village, or company shall tender 

to the parties. sustaining damages such a sum of money as in ·their 

judgment is a reasonable compensation for the damages sustained. 

Whoever is aggrieved by an order under the provisions of the preceding section, or with the sum so tendered as damages, may appeal 

therefrom in the manner provided in Vermont statutes, Sec. 3314 to 

3317 .• inclusive, relating to highways. But the notice therein provided for shall be served on the party or parties who are petitioners 

in fact under section 6 of this act; and also upon the State board of 

·health. If the appeal be only from the compensation for damages, 

the order of the board shall be complied with during the pendency ,of 

such appeal unless otherwise authorized by said board. 

SEC. 7. The court of chancery shall have jurisdiction and power, 

upon application thereto by the State board of health or any party inter~ 

ested, to enforce its orders, or'~·o.::.'orders, rules, and regulations of said 

board of health, and to restrain the use or occupation of the premises or 

such portion thereof as said board may specify, on which said material 

is deposite(!. or kept or such other cause of pollution. exists, until the 

orders, rules, and regulations of said board have been complied with. 

SEC. 8. Said board of health may by itself, its servants and agents, 

enter any building,. structure, or premises for the purpose of ascertaining whether sources of pollution or danger to the water supply 

there exist and whether the rule~, regulations, and orders aforesaid 

are obeyed. 

SEC. 9. Whoever violates any rule, regulation, or order made under 

the provisions of section 2 or section 6 of this act shall be punished 

for each offence by a fine of not more than five• hundred dollars to 

the use of the State, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, 

or by both such fine and imprisonment. 

SEC. 10. No sewage, drainage, refuse, or polluting matter of such 

kind and amount as either by itself or in connection with other matter 

will corrupt or impair the quality of the water of any pond or stream 

used as a source of ice or water supply by a city, town, village, public 

institution, or water company for domestic use, or render it injurious 

to health, shall be discharged into any such streams, ponds, or upon 

their banks. 

SEc. 11. The provisions of the preceding section shall not be applicable to Lake Champlain or Lake Memphremagog. 

IRR 103-04-8 
114 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND·WATER POLLUTION. [NO. lOS. 

SEC. 12. The court of chancery, upon the application of a mayor of 

a city, the selectmen of a town, the trustees or bailiffs of an incorporated village, the managing board or officer of a public institution, 

or a water or ice company interested, shall have jurisdiction in equity 

to enjoin the violation of the provisions of section 10. · 

SEC. 13. Whoever wilfully deposits excrement or foul or decaying 

matter in water which is used for the purpose of domestic water supply or on the shore thereof within five rods of the water shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by impris.onment for 

not more than thirty days; and a constable of a town or police officer 

of a city or village in which such water is wholly or partially situated 

may act within the limits. of his city or town, and any executive officer 

or agent of a water board, board of water commissioners, public insti-

_tution, or water company furnishing water or ice for <!-omestic purposes, acting upon the premises of such board, institution, or company, 

· and not more than five rods from the water, may without a warrant 

arrest any person found in the act of violating the provisions of this 

section and detain him until complaint may be made against him 

therefor. But the provisions of this section shall not interfere with 

the sewerage of a city, town, village, or public institution, or prevent 

the enriching of land for agriculture by the owner or occupant thereof. 

SEC. 14. Each member of the State board of health shall receive four 

dollars per day and actual expenses while in the discharge of the duties 

imposed by this act. The State auditor is directed to draw his order 

on the State treasurer every six months for such sums as are necessary 

to meet the expenses of said board under the p;rovisions of this act. 

Approved December 12, 1902. 

GENER.AL RULES. 

The foregoing compendium of common and statute law may be 

summarized and stated in a few general rules, which will perhaps be 

· usef.ul to property owners and also to officers charged with the duty 

of protecting health and property rights in waters. 

In the nature of the case these rules can be only general, and many 

exigencies will appear in which more particular instructions must be 

obtained from the consultation of text-books and decisions or from 

the ad vice of counsel. 

I. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF RIPARIAN OWNERS. 

Every riparian owner has the right1. To use the waters of streams, navigable or otherwise, which flow 

across or along his property for the ordinary purposes incidental to 

domestic life and agriculture, including grazing. 

2. 'l'o use such waters for water power and for all kinds of manufacturing purposes which do not sensibly diminish the quantity which 

flows on for the use of lower proprietors nor change the quality of 

the waters to any appreciable extent. 
GOODELL.) STATUTE RIGHTS AND DUTIES. 115 

3. To have such waters flow to him from the premises of higher 

proprietors not unreasonably diminished nor diverted nor rendered 

impure by the farming or domestic uses to which the waters are subjected by higher proprietors. 

4. To have such waters flow to him not sensibly changed in quality 

by any manufacturing or other uses to which they may have been 

put by higher proprietors. 

5. To have such waters flow to him in their natural bed, unpolluted 

by any deposits of filth or any other substance in the bed or channel 

previously traversed by them. 

Conversely, it is the duty of every riparian owner1. To so guard his use of the waters of streams which flow across 

or along his property for domestic and agricultural purposes as not 

unreasonably to divert nor diminish nor reuder impure such waters. 

2. To refrain from every use in manufacturing which will div;ert or 

sensibly diminish the quantity of the waters which flow onward to 

the lower proprietors or render them appreciably different in quality. 

3. To refrain from depositing any filth or other substance in the 

bed of such streams in such a manner or to such an extent as will 

cause the waters to flow to the lower proprietors out of their natural 

bed or will in anywise pollute them or render them impure. 

II. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. 

Considered as corporate entities, municipal corporations have such 

rights and powers only as are conferred upon them by statute, either 

expressly or by necessary implication. 

When, under due authority, they become the owners of lakes, reservoirs, and natural streams, they have the same rights to pure water, 

and are charged with the same duties, as are other riparian proprietors. 

If authorized to construct a system of sewers draining into a stream, 

such authority does not exempt them from the duty not to pollute 

the stream to the damage of lower proprietors. 

The rights of property owners, specified in 3, 4, and 5 above are 

property rights and can not be taken away from owners for public 

use except upon payment therefor of an amount determined by constitutional condemnation proceedings a;uthorized by statute. 

Therefore, until municipal corporations have, by such proceedings, 

acquired the rights of all lower proprietors and paid for them, they 

are required in all cases to refrain from the pollution of streams to 

the same extent as private owners. 

III. RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF THE PUBLIC. 

By "the public" is meant that indefinite number of individuals, 

whether larger or smaller, who occupy as a common habitation a 

neighborhood, village, town, State, or country. Rights and duties 

which affect inhabitants of the neighborhood, village, town, State, or 
116 LAWS FORBIDDING INLAND· WATER POLLUTION, [No.108. 

country as a whole, or a considerable but indefinite number of them, 

are called." public" rights and duties. . 

The public, in this sense, has the right to enjoy the natural waters 

and the air which passes over them, upon which it depends for life 

and health, in a condition so near that in which nature left them that 

their use will not destroy nor threaten life nor injure health. 

And, reciprocally, .the public, and each member of it, is charged 

with the duty not to pollute the natural waters upon which the community depends for life and health in any manner that will render 

the continued use of the waters, or of the air which passes over thein, 

destructive of or injurious to the life or health of the community. 

PUBLIC RIGHTS AND DUTIES ENFORCED BY. STATUTE. 

The ;rights and duties attempted to be I expressed under III, have 

received some recognition by the courts apart from statutory enactments. They have been enforced chiefly, however, through legislation. These rights and duties have received full recognition, and an 

active effort has been made to provide an efficient sanction for their 

enforcement by the legislatures of all the States included in Class II 

and Class III, as hereinbefore stated. These classes include thirtyseven of the States and Territories. 

These statutes, not being in derogation of common-law rights, have 

been construed as remedial stat~tes and not unconstitutional because, 

in some cases, they may seem to interfere with prescriptive rights. 

No one can acquire by prescription a right to do an act which menaces public health or destroys publlc comfort. 

PROGRESS OF LEGISLATION .. 

,It will have been noticed that public opinion, as expressed in public laws, is steadily progressing in the direction of a full, complete, 

and comprehensive enforcement of all the rights and duties of riparian owners, of municipal corporations, and of the public, as summarized above. Each advance in statutory regulation is an advance in 

that direction, and more especially in the direction of regulating and 

enforcing public rights and municipal rights and duties. 

Private owners have, from time immemorial, been active in pro~ 

tecting their riparian rights as against other private owners. But the 

effect of pollution upon public health has not, until a comparatively 

recent period, been brought prominently into notice. The pollution of 

streams by cities and private persons has, accordingly, not received 

the attention which it deserved.· This state of affairs is now rapidly 

passing away. Courts have shown themselves fully alive to the 

existence and validity of public rights in that respect, and the legislatures in Class III, comprising the States of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, and 

Vermont, have made enactments calculated so to control such pollution as eventually to prevent all danger to public health. 
INDEX. 

Page. 

Acquackanonk Water Company v. Watson, cited on mine contamination ------------ ________ ---- ____ 14 

reference to-------·------------------- 17 

statement of ......• ----------------··-- 14 

Alabama, common-law cases in.......... 9 

statute laws of •.......... : ....•....... 28-29 

Altoona, Good v., decision in............. 23 

Andrews, Chief Justice, opinion of, quotations from .....•.......•..... 28-24 

Angel, Pennsylvania Railroad Company 

v., opinion in, quoted on right 

of injunction.................. 17 

Arkansas, common-law cases in:......... 9 

statute lawsof......................... 29 

Ashes, deposition of, in streams, etc., prohibition of and penalty for . .. 85, 

' 41,44 Attorney-General v. Leeds, opinion in, 

quotation from________________ 16 

Attorney-General v. Steward, opinion in, 

quotation from------.......... 16 

Bankier, Young v. See Young v. Bankier. 

Bathing in source of water supply, prohibitionofandpenaltyfor...... 45, 

52,58,64,67 

Beach v. Sterling Iron and Zinc Com-· 

pany, opinion in .•...•• · ••.•• : •. ll-20 

reference to--------------------------- i!/'1 

Blizzard v. The Borough of Danville, decision.in ........••.. ------------ 23 

Boards of health, etc,, powers of......... 39, 

46,60-68, 6iHI8, 72, 101-ll4 

Boards of supervision, etc., constitution 

of ...........•...••.• 69-71,79,~,90 

powers of-------------------- .......... 70-74 

Boiling . Spring Company, Holsman v. 

See Holsman v. Boiling Spring 

Company. 

Borough of Danville, Blizzard v., decision 

in.----.......................... 23 

·Brinsop Coal Company, .The, Pennington 

v., cited on mine contamination ............................ 14-15 

Buildings, contamination of water supply by, prohibition of and 

remedy for.................... 59 

Butchers• Ice and Coal Company v. Phila-

. delphia, decision in............ 23 

. Butler_ v. Village of White Plains, action 

in............................... 26 

Page. 

Cairns, Lord, cited on mine contamina,. 

tion ---------------------------- 15 

California, common-law cases in ......• !l,Jl1,22 

statute lawsof .....•.............•..•.. ~ 

Cases, common-law, classification of----- 7-8 

on prescriptive rights of pollution... 16 

on public nuisances------------------- 21 

on right of injunction ......••..... ---- 15,17 

on rights of municipalities ...•.......• 21-M 

on rights of public-------------------- 20-21 

on rights of riparian owners.......... 8-20 

Cemeteries, maintenance of, near streams,· 

etc., prohibition of ...... 33-84,46,58 

Chadwick, Magor v., cited on mine contamination..................... 14 

Cheese refuse, contamination by, prohibition of and penalty for ...... 47-48 

Chicago, seWa.ge from, suit concerning 

disposal of--------------------- 20 

City, Harris v., decision in................ 23 

City of Danbury, Morgan v., opinion in, 

quotationfrom ..........•..... ~ 

City of Gloversville, Sammons v., action 

in ...................•. ------.... 26 

Clowes v. Staffordshire Waterworks, citation of, on right of injunction------------------------·--- 15 

Coal mines, contamination from. See 

Mines. 

Coal refuse, contamination by, prohibition of and penalty for .•....•. 47-48 

Coal tar, etc., contamination of streams, 

etc., by, prohibition of and 

penalty for-----·-------------- 37,49 

Colorado, common-law cases in........... 9 

statute laws of ........... -------------- 37 

Columbus, The, etc., Company v. Tucker, 

decision in, citation of ......... 14,15 

Common law. See Law, common. 

Connecticut, common-law cases in----- 9,22-26 

statute laws of .......•....•...........• 57-60 

Contaminationofwater. SeeWater,pollution of. 

Crossley v. Lightowler, opinion in, quoted 

on water pollution.------------ 16 

Damages, right to sue for................. 8 

Decisions. See Cases. 

Delaware, statute laws of................. 29 

Dixon, Judge, opinion of, quotation from. 17 

Domestic purposes, right of using water 

reasonably for .•••.••.•...•.... 8,114 

117 
ll8 INDEX. 

Page. 

England, common-law cases in •.•.• 10,14,15,22 

Ennor, Hodgkinson v., cited on mine con- , 

tamination ..................• ,.. 14 

Factory refuse, contamination' by, prohibition of and penalty for ..•.• 39-40, 

52,71,106 

Fa1'Ining, right ofusiilg water reasonably 

for-----------------··---------- 8,114 

Fish, poisoning, etc., prohibition of and 

penalty for--------------·----· 32,45 

Fletcher v. Rylands, citation of, on mine 

contamination................. - 15 

Florida, statute laws of------------------- 30 

Garbage, etc., burning of ...•....•..... 36,44-45 

Gardner v. Newburgh, decision in, quotation from---------------------- 14 

Gas refuse, contamination of streams, 

etc., by, prohibition of and 

penalty for------- ... ----- 83,34,47,411 

Georgia, common-law cases in............ 22 

statute laws of------------------------ 30 

Goldsmid v. Tunbridge Wells Commissioners, opinion in, quotation 

from-------------------·------- 111 

Good v. Altoona, decision i'n -------------- 23 

Great Britain, common-law cases in.10,14,15,22 

Grey, Attorney-General, v. Paterson, decision in ...... ------------------ 27 

discussion of ....... -------------------- 26-27 

Harris v. City, decision in---------------- 23 

Health, boards of, powers of------------- 311, 

46,60-63, 6C>-68, 72,101-114 

Bee also Boards of supervision. 

Higgins v. The Water Company, citation 

of _____ .------------------------- 17 

Hodgkinson v. Enuor, cited on mine con- tamination_____________________ 14 

Holsman v. Boili'ng Spring Company, 

cited on mine contamination. 14 

opiinon in, quoted on riparian rights. 17 

House of Lords, decision by-------------- 15 

·Ice, pollution of, prohibition of and penalty for------------------ 57-58.64.68 

pollution of, warning of............... 67 

Ice, polluted, use of----------------------- 67 

Idaho, statute laws of.-------------------- 30 

Illinois, common-law cases in............. 22 

statute laws of------------------------ 38 

Illinois et al., :Missourl. v., case of......... 20 

Indiana, common-law cases in ...... ------ 11,21 

statute laws of------------------------ 3!WIII 

Indictment, remedy of____________________ 8 

Injunction, remedy of ... ---------- 8,15,17-18,21 

remedy of, cases bearing on------- 14-15,17 

Iowa, common-law cases in .. ·------------- 9,22 

statute laws of ••..... ------------------ 30 

Jurisdictions of act and its results, different, r&medies in case of----------------- 8,20 

Kansas, common-law cases in............. 22 

Kent, Chancellor, opinion of, quoted on 

mine contamination........... 14 

Kentucky, common-law cases in.......... 9 statute laws of ___________________ ------ 30-31. 

Lancaster City, Owensv., decisions in... 23 

Land, :Mayor, etc., of Birmingham v., decision in...... • • • •• • • . • • .. • • • . •• 25-26 

Page. 

Law, common, decisions at •.•.••..••••••• 1.!1!1 

decisions at, classification of.......... 7-S 

principles of. .... ---------------------- 8-27 classification of ______________ •...•• 7-S 

remedies at----------------............ 8 

Laws, statute, classes of------------------ 28 

lack of uniformity in.................. 28 

restrictions of, general..... . . . . . . . . . . . 28-116 

partial ..... ------------------------ 38-57 

severe ..........• ------------------ 57-114 

text of, by States and by classes ---· 27-114 

See also under State names andRestrictions. 

Leeds, Attorney-General v., opinion in, 

quotation from---------------- 16 

Lightowler,Crossleyv., opinion in, quoted 

on water pollution------------ ·16 

Lister, :Meigs v., opinion in, quoted on 

water pollution................ 16 

Lords, House of, decision by .•.. ----------_ 15 

Lowell, :Middlesex v., decision in......... 26 

Louisiana, statute laws of . --------------- 31 

:McClellan, Chief Justice, opinion of, quotation from-----------------·-· 25-26 

:Macnaghten, Lord, opinion of, quoted on 

mine contamination........... 15 

:Magor v. Chadwick, cited on mi'ne· contamination..................... 14 

:Maine, statute laws of..................... 40 

:Maryland, common-law cases in.......... 9 

statute laws of......................... 41 

:Massachusetts, common-law cases in. 9, 10, 22,26 

statute laws of ...........•••••....•.•.. 60-64 

:Mayor, etc., of Birmingham, v. Land, decision in ...•.........•..... , .... 25-26 

:Meigs v. Lister, opinion in, quoted on 

waterpollution................ 16 

:Merrifield v. Worcester; cited on reasonable use------------------------ 16 

decision in----------------------------- 26 

:Michigan, statute laws of ................. 31-32 

:Middlesex County v. Lowell, decision in. 26 

:Milli'ng refuse, contamination of streams, 

etc., by, prohibition of and 

penalty for----- .... ____ 43,52, 106,111 

:Mines, contamination of streams, etc., by, 

decisions on .......... ---------- 10:.20 

:Mining refuse, contamination of streams, 

etc., by, prohibition of and 

penalty for ......•........ 43,47-48,52 

:Minnesota, common-law cases in......... 9 

statut~ laws of ..... -----------••.••... 64-S5 

:Mississippi, common-law cases in........ 9 

statute laws of ..•.... ----------------·- 32 

:Missouri, common-law cases in .•....•.... 9,22 

statute laws of------------------------ 41--42 

Sta te of, agai'nst sanitary district of 

Chicago, case of.:............. 20 

:Missouri v. Illinois et. al., case of......... 20 

:Morgan v. City of Danbury, opinion in, 

quotation from---------------- 24-25 

:Municipalities, nuisances created by .... 23-27 

pollution by, liability for ...... 21,23-27,115 

powers of .•......... ------ 29,31,38-311,53;104 

rights of, as riparian owners......... 20 

extent and limit of ............ 21.!1!1,115 
INDEX. 119 

Page. 

Nason, Professor, testimony of, on mine 

water-------------------------- 18-19 

Natural use. See Use, reasonable. 

Navigation, placing impediments to, prohibition of and penalty for ...• 31,32 

Nebraska., statute laws of---------------- 32--ffi 

Nevada, statute laws of __________ --------- 42-43 

Newburgh,Gardnerv.,decisionin,quotationfrom ---------------------- 14 

Newell, F. H,, letter of transmittal by___ 5 

New Britain, Nolan v., opinion in, quotations from--------------------- 23--24 

New Hampshire, common-law cases in__ 9,22 

statute laws of------------------------ 65-68 

New Jersey, common-law cases in------- 9, 

11-20,23,26--27 

sewerage commission in, act estab-

. lishing ------------------------- 73--86-

statute laws of ______ ------------------ 68-101 

New Mexico, statute laws of ______________ 43--45 

New York, common-law cases in ... 10,21,23,26 

statute laws of ______ ----------------- 101-110 

Nolan v. New Britain, opinion in, quotations from--------------------- 23-24 

North Carolina, statute laws of_--------- 4546 

North Dakota, statute laws of __________ ,_ 113 

Nuisance, commission of, near waterworks, etc., prohibition of and 

penalty for-------------------- 29 

Nuisance, public, abatement of------- 54--55,57 

cases bearing on ___________ ------------ 21 

from pollution, definition of__________ 20 

inability of legislature to authorize 

creation of __________________ 21,25-27 

right to abate ••.... ---------------- ____ 20-21 

Ohio, common-law cases in------------ 10,14,15 

statute laws of ______ ------------------- 46--48 

Oil, etc., contamination of streams, etc., 

by, prohibition of and penalty 

for.·--------------------- 37,47-48,52 

Oklahoma, statute laws of---------------- 113--34 

Oregon, statute laws of------------------- 48-49 

Owens v. Lancaster City, decision in_____ 23 

opinion in, quotation from____________ 23 

Owners, riparian, duties of_______________ 115 

rights of------------------------ S-27,114--115 

against municipalities------------ 21-27 

against one another_-------------- '1'-llO 

Owners, riparian, below tide water, 

rights of----------------------- 27 

Paper, deposition of, in streams, etc., prohibition of and penalty for____ 44 

Paterson, Grey, Attorney-General v., decision in________________________ 27 

discussiorr of--------------------------- 26--27 

Pennington v. The Brinsop Coal Company, cited on mine contamimation -------------------------- 14--15 

Pennsylvania, common-law cases in. 10, 14, 15,23 statute laws of_________________________ 34 

Pennsylvania Coal Company, Sanderson v. See Sanderson v. Pennsylvania Coal Company. 

Pennsylvania Railroad . Company v. Angel, opinion lin, quoted on 

right of injunction ...... ------ 17 

Paa:e. 

Philadelphia, Butchers' Ice and Coal 

Company v., decision in._----- 23 

Pitney, Vice-chancellor, opinion of •••..•• 11-20 

Poison, deposition of, in streams, etc., 

prohibition of and penalty for_ 28, 

00--31, 34--35,40,42-43, 45, 51, 56, 66 

Public, rights of---------------· 8,20-21,115-116 

Pollution, prescriptive rights of, discussion of ________ ------------------ 16,26 

Pollution of water. See Water, pollution of. 

Polluting articles, deposition of, in 

streams, etc., statute restrictions of ______ ------------------ 28--114 

Far special articles not universally 

prohibited, see under their 

names . 

Prescription, 1•ight of. See Rights, prescriptive. 

Privy. vaults, laws concerning ______ ------ 113, 

86--88,41,46,52,55,68,69 

Public, rights of .•••• -------------- 20-21,115-116 

rights of, decisions bearing on________ 21 

extent and limit of---------------- . 20 

Refuse. See Polluting articles. 

Remedies at common law for water pollution-------------------------- 8 

Restrictions, general, statutory, by States 36--57 

Restrictions, partial, statutory, by States 28-36 

Restrictions, severe, statutory, by States 57-114 

Rhode Island, common-law cases in...... 10 

statute laws of _______ ------------------ 34 

Rights, prescriptive, cases bearing on, 

citatimiof --------------------- 16 

discussion of.---------------------- 16,24,116 

Rights, vested. See Rights, p1•escriptive. 

"Rights of municipal corporations to 

drain into sewers," citation 

of.------------------ __ ---------- 25 

Riparian owners. See Owners, riparian. 

Rylands, Fletcher v., citation of, on mine 

contamination.---------------- 15 

St. Helen's SmeltingCompanyv. Tipping, 

opin~on in, quoted on water 

pollution----------------------- 16 

Sammons v. City of Gloversville, action 

in_______________________________ 26 

Sanderson v. Pennsylvania Coal Company, discussion of------------ 14 

reference to ______ ---------------------- 15,17 statement of decision in _______________ 10-11 

Sawdust, deposition of, in streams, etc., 

prohibition of and penalty 

for---------------- 42-43,45,57,66,111 

Scope of present work, statement of_____ 7 

Sewage, discharge of, decision concerning -------C--------------------- 16 

disposal of, rights o:l municipalities in 21-27 

definition of ____ ---- ____ .-----------____ 25 

Sewage commissions. See Boards of 

supervision. and Boards of 

health. 

Sewer, right to use streatn as------------ 23 

right to use stream as, limits of------ 23--27 

Sheep washing, contamination by, prohibition of and penalty for...... ISl 
120 INDEX. 

Page. 

Sla.ughterhouses, maintenance of, near 

streams, etc., prohibition of 

and penalty for--------------- 32-113. . 31Hl8,41,47,53,55,56 

South Carolina, co=on-la.w cases in.... 10 

South Dakota, statute la.ws o~ ...........• 49-50 

Stable yard, etc., near stream, etc., maintenance of, prohibition of and 

penalty for----------- 33,86,51,53,56 

Staffordshire waterworkS, Clowesv., citation of, on right of injunction. 15 

States, control of water pollution reserved to....................... 27 

, laws of, cla.ssification,of ............... · 28 

lack of uniformity in .... ---------- 28 

text of ............................ 28-114 

See also under State names. 

State restrictions. See Restrictions, 

State. 

SterlinglronandZincCompany,Beachv., 

opinion in ...................... 11-20 

reference to............................ 27 

Steward, Attorney-General v., opinion in, 

quotation from ....... :........ 16 

Streams, banks of, depositing offensive 

matter on, prohibition of and 

penalty fc;>r .......... 211,33,46,50,52,58 

use of, as sewers, right of municipality in ........ ------------------- 28-27 

Supervision of water supplies. See Boards 

of health and boards of supervision. 

Supreme Court of the United States, common-la.w case in ....... :....... 20 

Tannery; refuse of, contamination of 

streams by, prohibition of and 

penalty for ................... .- 41 

Tennessee, statute la.ws of................ 50 

Tide, riparian owners below ebb and flow 

of, rights of __ .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 27 

Tin cans, deposition of, in streams, etc., 

prohibition of and penalty for. 44 

Tipping, St. Hel!ln's Smelting Company 

v., opinion in, quoted on water 

pollution....................... 16 

Tucker, The Columbus, etc., Companyv., 

citation of ............ ------.... 14,15 

Tunbridge Wells CommiBBioners, Goldamid v .. opinion in, quotation 

from ... ::...................... 19 

Turner, Lord Justice, opinion of, quotation from---------~------------ 19 

United States Supreme Court, common' 

la.w case in ...... :.............. 20 

Use, reasonableness of, determination of. 8 

Page. 

Use, reasonable, discussion of ...... 10--11,14--16, 

right of................................ 8,14 

Utah, statute laws of...................... 51 

Texas, statute la.ws of ..................... 50-51 

Vermont, common-la.w cases in ____ ...... 10 

statute la.ws of ....................... 110--114 

Vested rights. See Rights, prescriptive. 

Villa.ge of White Plains, Butler v._, action 

in............................... 26 

Virginia, statute la.ws of .... -------------- 52-ii3 

Washington, statute la.ws of .............. 53-55 

Water, analysis of, provision for......... 58 

appropriation of, limits of riparian 

owner's right of--------------- 8 

total, penalty for.................. 42 

total, prohibition of--------------- 8,14 

discoloration of ..... · ..... ____ .......... 11-20 

ownership of, qualification of......... 8 

·pollution of, jurisdiction over........ 27 

liability of municipality for 21,28-27,115 

liability of riparian owner for.... 8 

public nuisance arising from .... 20,115 

right to abate .... -'---------------- 20-21 

reasonable use of, determination of.. 8 

rule of la.w concerning .. _ .. -------- 8 

rights of municipalities in-------- 21-27,115 

rights of public in ..................... 20--21 

rights of riparian owners in ... 8-20,114--115 

limitationson...................... !I 

rule of Ia. w concerning . .. .. .. .. . . . 8 

use of, riparian· owner's right of..... 7-8 

riparian owner's right of, limits 

of. ____ ------ .......... ---------- 8 

for other than farming or domestic purposes, restrictions on .. 8,114 

Water Company, The, Higgins v., citation of ...... , .......... :........ 17 

Water supplies, supervision of. See· 

Boards of supervision and 

. · Boards of health. 

Waterworks, injury to, prohibition of 

and penalties. for-------- 29-30,40,45 

Watson, Acquackanonk Water Company 

v. See Acquackanonk Water 

Company v. Watson. 

West Virginia, statute·la.wsof ------"---- 55 

Wisconsin, common-la.w cases in ..... · ..... 10,21 

statute la.ws of ------------------ ...... 35--36 

Wyoming, common-la.w cases in.......... 10 statute la.ws of _________________ ........ 56-57 

Worcester, Merrifield v., citation from, 

on reasonable use............. 16 

Young· v. Bankier, citation of, on mine 

contamination ........... -.. :.. 15 

discussion of ............ ·............... 15 

0 
LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS. 

[Mount each slip upon a separate card, placing the subject at the top of the 

second slip. The name of the series should not be repeated on the series 

card, but the additional numbers should be added, as received, to the first 

entry.] 

Goodell, Edwin B . 

. . . A review of the laws forbidding pollution of in-

. land waters in the United States, by Edwin B. Goodell. ! Washington, Gov't print. off., 1904. 

120 p., 11. 23~•m. (U. S. Geological survey. Water-supply and irrigation paper no. 103.) 

Subject series: L, Quality of water, 6. 

Goodell, Edwin B. 

. . . A review of the laws forbidding pollution of in-

~ land waters in the United States, by Edwin B. Goodell . .. i Washington, Gov't print. off., 1904. 

120 p., 11. 23~•m. (U. S. Geological survey. Water-supply and irrigation paper no. 103.) 

Subject series: L, Quality of water, 6. 

u.s. Geological survey. 

Water-supply and irrigation papers. i 

i 

riJ no. 103. Goodell, E. B. A review·of the laws forbidding 

pollution of inland waters in the United States. 

1904. 

ol u.s. 

I Dept. of the Interior. 

see also 

U.s.. Geological survey.