185 



That Mohole be made part of a "well-plaimed national effort in submarine 

 geology" that would also include shallow drilling in ocean sediments ; 



That NSF organization to manage the project be strengthened ; 



That a suitable (presumably academic or research institutional) organiza- 

 tion be selected to assume responsibility for scientific operations. 



Said NSF: 



All of the most urgent points made by Dr. Plore's committee were taken into 

 consideration in arriving at the plan for the project now being followed. 



Congressional action to terminate the Mohole project 



On May 10, 1966, the House of Representatives received the report 

 of Representative Joe L. Evins, chairman of the Subcommittee on 

 Independent Offices Appropriations. Concerning Mohole he said : 



The subcommittee recommended — and the full committee approved — we are 

 deferring of further appropriations for Project Mohole at this time. This is a 

 very costly project with marginal and questionable benefits — a project of low 

 priority. 



In view of the world situation and the pressures and demands on our budget — 

 priority funding — the committee feels that this is not the time to expend huge 

 sums of money to dig a hole. 



The cost of the Mohole project has already greatly exceeded the original esti- 

 mate and promises to increase still further. Current estimates are that the 

 Mohole project will cost somewhere between $80 and $115 million. 



Over a period of a decade the costs would be half a billion dollars. No funds 

 are included in the bill for the Mohole project. 



Certainly this is one project that can be deferred.™ 



Only a few members demurred at this action reported by the new 

 subcommittee chairman.^^ Several members from Hawaii, where much 

 of the new drilling would have taken place in the Mohole project, 

 expressed regret at the loss to science that would result from the ter- 

 mination. There were regrets also that the program was being scrapped 

 after so much effort had been invested in it. World interest had been 

 aroused and would now be disappointed. Several references were made 

 to the drilling program of the Soviet Union. However, it was evi- 

 dently true, as Representative George P. Miller, chairman of the Com- 

 mittee on Science and Astronautics, observed, that the Mohole pro- 

 gram had "no champion." 



But it is important [he said]. It is a part of earth sciences, and the earth 

 sciences are a neglected field of science, and only now are we beginning to under- 

 stand and take cognizance of them and what they amount to." 



Representative Evins responded that his subcommittee was indeed 

 interested in science. But "in the opinion of many competent observers, 

 this project is a giant boondoggle." If it was not stopped, the cost would 

 rise to a half billion dollars over the next 20 to 30 years, "before it [is] 

 completed." There were several other marine core drilling programs, 

 including the JOIDES program, that showed great promise of scien- 

 tific rewards at less cost. Therefore, he concluded, "I think * * * we 

 can save this $20 million now and a half billion dollars by terminating 

 this contract." ^^ 



=0 statement on H.R. 14921. Independent offices appropriation bill, 1967, Congressional 

 Record (May 10, 1966), p. 9727. 



f^ Representative Evins had assumed the chairmanship of the subcommittee upon the 

 death of Representative Albert Thomas of Texas, la January 1966. 



°- Congressional Record. Ibid., p. 9746. 



ssibid., pp. 9746-9747. 



