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ROBERT 0. SYLVESTER 

 most detailed report, perhaps more so than any we have 

 seen of this type in the past. As in any study anJ teport 

 of this complexity, it can be subjected to questions on 

 raethodolji^y , results, cone lus lone} aaJ recommendations. 

 However, these questions are not as important as to 

 question the objective of this study. 



The principal objective of the investigations 

 as initiated by the 1962 Enforcement Conference in Olympia 

 was to determine whether the marine environme.ii has been 

 damaged as t'l*,' result of pulp and pdper mill waste dis- 

 charges. This objective^ necessitated by the Enforcement 

 Conference, is a negative approach in a modern program of 

 water quality control for the maintenance or enhancement 

 of a water environment. If damage must be proven in an 

 enforcement program before corrective measures can be 

 obtained, then some of the beneficial uses of the waters 

 have already suffered. In a developing area, these damages 

 can increase more rapidly than corrective measures. When 

 carried to tiic extreme, as has been the case in some areas, 

 water uses other than waste disposal have declined and 

 there remains little left to protect. The cost to' reverse 

 these mistakes in water management are so great that 

 pressures develop to commit the waters to this condition. 

 Since a water resource must serve many conflicting demands. 



