OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 315 



Mr. Miller. I might say that all of us are concerned, and naturally 

 somewhat confused, concerning this problem. We realize the neces- 

 sity of getting rid of this material. We have confidence in the Ocean- 

 ography Committee of the Academy of Sciences, and I think they 

 are very frank in their report. 



Part of it is not readily understood by the layman, but I am con- 

 cerned with one section of it, and I think it is one of the things that 

 is bothering you. 



On page 16, this page deals primarily with the movement of bottom 

 sediment and bottom water circulation. 



Evaluation of bottom circulation must be inferred from observations of 

 salinity and temperature distributions, and measurements of surface drift, 

 the latter largely from drift bottle experiments. A few direct measurements of 

 bottom currents have been made from light ships. 



Our knowledge of bottom water circulation along the Atlantic coast may best 

 be summarized by the following four items — 



Then they give you those four items, as I interpret them, in effect, 

 saying that this is an area of oceanography, the matter of these bottom 

 drifts, which must be studied. We must spend some money on it be- 

 cause we don't know a lot about it. 



Maybe I interpret this report wrongly, but I have tried to go into 

 it and frankly that is one of the things that concerns me, as I know it 

 concerns you. 



Mr. Downing. I agree with the Chairman. 



Mr. Miller. I want to thank you for testifying here. 



We appreciate the time you have taken from a very busy schedule 

 to be here. 



Mr. Downing. Thank you very much. 



Mr. Miller. Any questions, gentlemen ? 



Mr. Pelly. I would just like to say that I share the concern of our 

 colleague, Mr. Downing. I do not know what the final answer will 

 be, but very recently, in the Pacific Northwest, a container was found 

 on the shore marked '"Danger", and it was marked to indicate that 

 it had some dangerous waste material in it. 



Whether it was a hoax or whether it was actually the Atomic Energy 

 Commission's own container, I do not know. 



However, I think this is something that you are certainly properly 

 concerned about in your district, and I would be very much interested 

 in supporting any measures that are taken to be sure of the safety 

 of the people. 



Mr. Dow^NiNG. I thank the gentleman. 



Mr. Miller. Thank you very much, Mr. Downing. 



Our next witness is the Honorable Bob Casey, of Texas. We are 

 happy to welcome our colleague from Texas, who also has expressed 

 great concern about this problem. 



STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT CASEY, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS 



Mr. Casey. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, I first 

 became concerned about the matter of disposal of i-adioactive waste 

 when a corporation in my home city of Houston, Tex. was license-d by 

 the Atomic Energy Commission to dispose of such waste. 



38170—59* 21 



