347 



of the Mississippi it was a "very, very minor problem'' that did not 

 require Federal reg:ulation,^^ 



A blunt claim of the petroleum industry of the right to pollute was 

 voiced by Harold L. Kennedy, speaking on behalf of the Independent 

 Petroleum Association of America, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Asso- 

 ciation, National Petroleum Association, and the Western Petroleum 

 Association. He declared : 



It is wpII known that the principal outlet for waste of every kind has from 

 time immemorial been of necessity through the natural drainage and streams of 

 the country. This is as true of industrial waste as of other types. The use of water- 

 ways by indu.stry in general and by the petroleum industry in particular for the 

 purpose of waste disposal has historically been necessary.^ 



An economic analysis presented by representatives of the bituminous 

 coal industry, hard hit after World War I by competitive fuels and 

 sagging markets,^=^ demonstrated the difficulties that industry would 

 have in complying with any thoroughgoing laws against stream pollu- 

 tion. Dr. Walter L. Slifer, research analyst and statistician of the Bitu- 

 minous Coal Institute, judged the cost to his industry of adequate pol- 

 lution abatement measures to be 50 cents per ton. He asserted that 

 "* * * The industry is not in a financial condition to bear it, espe- 

 cially in the face of competing sources of power — gas, oil. hydroelec- 

 tric." Additional costs would have to be met by increased prices of man- 

 ufactured products, which would result in inflation.^* A technical anal- 

 ysis of the coal industry's problems with stream pollution was pre- 

 sented by Henry Otto, of the Hudson Coal Co., Scranton, Pa. There 

 were, he said, no technical solutions available to reduce coal mine ef- 

 fluents. His analysis was as follows (in summary) : 



CONTRIBUTING POLLUTANT ANALYSIS 



Mine water and wash water containing Technically impossible and ecouomi- 

 sulphuric acid. cally prohibitive to neutralize with 



lime ; also the need to di.spose of the 

 resultant polluting sludge. 

 Water containing fine coal and refuse Prohibitive capital cost to install purl- 

 in su.spension, resulting from wet sep- fying equipment ; if installed, a re- 

 aration of coal for market. suiting nuisance is caused by the dust 



retrieved. 

 Fine coal in suspension resulting from Impossible to protect heaps from ero- 

 erosion of waste heaps from coal sion, many are on abandoned proper- 

 mined during the preceding 125 years. ties not covered by law. 



Other coal industry spokesmen agreed. Jesse V. Sullivan, of the 

 West Virginia Coal Association claimed it would be impossible to 

 neutralize acid mine drainage that seeped into surface streams. The 

 only alternative would be to seal coal mines, which would put men 

 out of work, in addition to being only 50-percent effective.'^ Dr. 

 Harold J. Rose, vice president and director of research of Bituminous 

 Coal Research, Inc. declared: "It is research, that is needed, not more 

 legislation.'' ■'''' The special case of the bituminous coal industry was the 

 basis of an appeal by Harry Gandy, Jr., representing the National 

 Coal Association. If it were decided to adopt antipollution legislation, 



*i Senate hearings, 1947, op. cit., pp. 204-205. 



'^ House hearings, 1947, op, cit., p. 151. 



''^ See ch. 11. 



^ Senate hearings, 1947, op. cit., p. 254. 



«6 House hearings. 1947, op. cit., pp. 201-202. 



M Ibid., pp, 257-260. 



