145 
ER 1145-2-301 
1 July 68 
12. Injuries to Government Works. 
a. Section 14 of the River and Harbor Act approved 3 March 
1899 (30 Stat. 1152; 33 U.S.C. 408) makes it unlawful for any person 
or persons to take possession of, or build upon, or obstruct by fastening 
vessels thereto or otherwise, or in any manner whatever impair the 
usefulness of any sea wall, bulkhead, or other work built by the United 
States, or any piece of plant, used in the construction of such work 
under the control of the United States, in whole or in part, for the 
preservation and improvement of any of its navigable waters or to 
prevent floods, or as boundary marks, tide gages, surveying stations, 
buoys, or other established marks, nor remove for ballast oz other 
purposes any stone or other material composing such works. Permission 
may be granted for the temporary occupation or use of any of the 
aforementioned public works when such occupation or use will not be 
injurious to the public interest. 
b. Decisions of the Comptroller General prohibit payment of 
damages to one Government department by another Government department 
in cases where the appropriations of the responsible departments are 
not available therefor. It is considered that such payments are 
prohibited by section 3678, Revised Statutes (15 Stat. 36; 31 U.S.C. 628), 
which requires appropriations to be applied solely to the objects for 
which they are respectively made. In any case involving injury to a 
federal structure or plant for which another Government department is 
responsible, the District Engineer will ascertain whether appropriations 
to that department are available for the payment of damage and, if not, 
no request for settlement will be made. 
ISN -Injurious Deposits. 
a. Section 13 of the River and Harbor Act approved 3 March 
1899 (30 Stat. 1152; 33 U.S.C. 407) prohibits the discharge of refuse 
matter, other than that flowing from streets and sewers and passing 
therefrom in a liquid state, into the navigable waters of the United 
States. The courts have held that oil is “refuse matter" within the 
meaning of the said Section 13 ( U.S. v. Alaska Southern Packing Co. 
(the La Merced Case) (84 Fed. (2a) (444))-. 
b. An Act of Congress approved 29 June 1888 (25 Stat. 209; 
33 U.S.C. 441 - 451), as amended on 28 August 1958 (72 Stat. 970-971; 
33 U.S.C. 4a - 451b) forbids the placing, discharging, or depositing 
