ELR Citation: ELR 20165
No(s). 3:05 CR 159 J 32 HTS (M.D. Fla. Aug 2, 2006)

A district court holds that for purposes of issuing a search warrant, it is reasonable for a judge to conclude that there is probable cause to believe that Clean Water Act jurisdiction extends to a creek that runs behind and receives unpermitted human waste discharge from the defendants' farm labor camp near Palatka, Florida. The creek is a relatively permanent, continuously flowing body of water with quantifiable geographic features. In addition, the creek is a natural tributary of the St. Johns River, a navigable-in-fact waterway. Therefore, the creek meets both Justice Scalia's and Justice Kennedy's tests for "waters of the United States" as set forth in Rapanos v. United States, 126 S. Ct. 2208, 36 ELR 20116 (2006).