Ill 



-3- 



MR. CHAIRMAN, ULTIMATELY IT IS RUSSIA THAT MUST ASSUME THE 

 RESPONSIBILITY FOR RECTIFYING THESE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES. BUT 

 THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE UNITED STATES CAN SIT BY AND DO 

 NOTHING. WE MUST, AND WE ARE. BEGINNING TO ASCERTAIN THE 

 NATURE OF THE PROBLEM AND WHETHER THERE IS A LIKELIHOOD OF 

 ENVIRONMENTAL DANGER TO U.S. INTERESTS. 



THE FIRST STEP IS TO SEEK FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION MORE 

 INFORMATION AND SUPPORT TO DETERMINE PRECISELY WHAT DUMPING MAY 

 HAVE OCCURRED. WE WILL DO THIS IMMEDIATELY. THE NEXT STEP IS 

 TO UNDERTAKE SOME SAMPLING ACTIVITIES THAT MAY HELP TO DEFINE 

 THE PROBLEM. I AM PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH 

 OTHER U.S. AGENCIES TO PLACE AMERICAN SCIENTISTS ON SHIPS 

 TRANSITING THE ARCTIC OCEAN FOR THE PURPOSE OF TAKING SAMPLES. 

 FINALLY, WE MAY BE ABLE TO USE FORMER RUSSIAN WEAPONS 

 SCIENTISTS IN A BROADER-SCALE EFFORT TO ASSESS THE PROBLEM AND 

 BEGIN TO OUTLINE WHAT OPTIONS THERE MAY BE FOR RUSSIA TO 

 CORRECT THE PROBLEM. 



SEVERAL THINGS ARE CLEAR: 



- • THERE IS A SCARCITY OF BASELINE DATA ABOUT THE 



SEDIMENT AND WATER CHEMISTRY, CURRENT CIRCULATION 

 PATTERNS, AND THE FOOD WEB IN THE ARCTIC OCEAN. 



