Capstone Ruling
Introduction
U.S v. Hanousek, 1999 case was an opinion of the ninth circuit in the court of appeals specifying ordinary ignorance was the main contributor to criminal ignorance, according to the Clean Water Act (CWA). In the year 1994, a backhoe machine destroyed a petroleum pipeline, which was found near the railroad tracks. The pipeline ruptured and caused a spill of petroleum products of about 6000 gallons at the Skagway River. The owners of the petroleum, who included Hanousek Edward and Taylor Paul, were issued charges as they had polluted the U.S waters with harmful substances.
The Supreme Court denied a full review of the case due to differences between justice systems. Hanousek worked at the Pacific Railway Firm as a roadmaster of Yukon Railroad and White Pass. Hanousek has been contracted to ensure that the rail track and marine facilities were adequately maintained as well as other ongoing projects. The main project that Hanousek was given was to supervise a quarrying project found within the site adjacent to the railroad and about 300 feet just above Skagway River. The project’s main activities were to blast rocks along the railroad and load the blasted rocks into trucks using a backhoe.
The Pacific and Arctic Railway company belonging to Hanousek and Taylor was hired to do the contracting job. They were involved in providing labor and equipment for the project. During the project’s operations in 1994, one of the backhoe operators, Shane Thoe, loaded excessive rocks on trucks, and others fell at the side of the rail track. These rocks damaged the pipeline causing rapture and about 6000 gallons of heated oil spilled into the Skagway River. The matter was reported to the authorities, and the situation was awaiting investigation to provide a further ruling.
Statement
The jury accused Hanousek of violating the CWA because the rules prohibit the spillage of harmful substances in the clean U.S rivers as per section 33, 1321 (b). The contractor caused a rapture of an oil pipeline leading to pollution of the Skagway River. The Pacific and Arctic Railway Company created a rapture of an oil pipeline leading to the pollution of the Skagway River. The Pacific and Arctic Railway Company was also accused of not adhering to their project’s functionalities.
The company was to ensure that the quarrying site was safe for construction and maintenance. However, the pipeline rapture indicates that the company was in negligence of its employees, according to the Petition App. 7a. The accused was indicted one count of violating the Clean Water Act as per section 1321 (b) 3. The district court informed the jury to thoroughly investigate the matter until the Government proves that the defendant caused the oil spillage, and the discharge was due to negligence of the contracting company.
Conclusion
After the authorities conducted extensive investigations, Hanousek was charged with one count of discharging harmful chemicals into United States waters, which violated the CWA. Taylor and Hanousek were provided additional charges caused by their ignorance and dishonesty by providing false data to the authorities. The final ruling was provided that Hanousek was responsible for ignoring the rules and discharging massive amounts of heated oil into the U.S waters, but was not guilty of giving false information. Hanousek was sentenced for six months imprisonment and an additional six months of release supervision to be provided by the legal authorities. He was fined $10,000 for his negligence and not obeying the required company laws.
References
Hanousek v. United States, 176 F.3d 1116 (9th Cir. 1999).
Dimitra, Lavrakas (2011). Taylor May Get New Trial. Skagway News.