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your money and disappear. If you would work with us they said, 

 we would be able to make a lot more progress. They noted: we have 

 the data, we have the expertise, we have the motivation because 

 the problems are in our regions and affecting our people. From 

 what I observed, the branches of the Academy and the institutes 

 have acquired a degree of autonomy that was unthinkable even 

 three or four years ago. Interestingly enough, some of this discus- 

 sion between central representatives and the branches occurred 

 while a local television station was recording the activities. The re- 

 gional units are not at all shy about expressing their autonomy and 

 their willingness to work separately from central government, if 

 that can be arranged. I would urge that this be considered. 



I should note also that he Academy of Sciences, the Academy of 

 Medical Sciences, and the Academy of Agriculture are different 

 agencies, and they tend not to communicate very much with one 

 another, and all of them have capabilities that are relevant to our 

 concerns with the impact of pollution in the Russian Arctic. I be- 

 lieve it would be desirable to work with at least these three agen- 

 cies in seeking information and initiating changes that we might 

 desire. 



Also, there is a sharp division between military science and civil- 

 ian science in Russia. Recently Dr. Roederer has written on his ex- 

 periences in Russia, and he makes this distinction. There is very 

 little communication between these two bodies of scientists in Rus- 

 sia, and working with one does not engage the other. As we ap- 

 proach the Russian Scientific establishment, we need to be alert to 

 its different units and regions and dimensions and take advantage 

 of the unique capabilities of each rather than dealing only with the 

 central government agency. 



In conclusion, pollution of the Russian Arctic by radioactive ma- 

 terials, heavy metals, industrial wastes, et cetera, appears to be a 

 large and perhaps a catastrophic problem. It threatens the people, 

 culture, the economy and the ecosystem of the U.S. Arctic along 

 with the entire Arctic. It has consequences ultimately for the vast 

 population in the mid latitudes, and in time we hope that they will 

 be aware of the fact that in this regard we are very much con- 

 nected. 



Working with Russian scientists, we must ascertain the scope of 

 the problem, measure it, monitor it, develop control regimes and in 

 time help clean up and correct the disaster that has already hap- 

 pened. 



Also, by working with a broad spectrum of Russian scientists we 

 can support their faltering science community, and I think it's been 

 widely agreed within the American science community that it's 

 very desirable to do so. We can mitigate a major problem that is 

 already in place and we can do so at very limited cost, given the 

 current Russian economic conditions, if we deploy our resources 

 wisely. 



So a need and an opportiinity coincide to which the U.S. should 

 respond in its own interest at this time. Thank you. 



Senator MuRKOWSKl. Thank you very much, Dr. O'Dowd. 



Our next panelist is Dr. Ned Ostenso, Assistant Administrator 

 for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and At- 



