OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES 345 



It is certainly my feeling tliat wherever we disperse radioactivity 

 to the environment periodically we have to go back and make sure 

 the capacity for that environment is not being exceeded. 



Mr. CuRTiN. What is your opinion as to these proposed areas which 

 are just a few miles off the coast ? 



Dr. LiEBERMAN. I think I could answer the question this way, sir : 



Certainly the report that the Academy group has put out has sup- 

 plied what I feel is much useful and needed information. 



I feel their assumptions, where tliey have been made, based on their 

 present knowledge, have been conservative. 



I think if the report is implemented the way they recommended it 

 be, that the kinds of wast« we are talking about could be disposed of 

 safely in shore locations. 



Mr, Lennon. These independent contractors are hauling the waste 

 out to sea. Are they the ones pushing this project to take them just 

 a little offshore ? 



Dr. LiEBEKMAN. Not to my knowledge. 



Mr. Lennon. That certainly would be an economy measure. 

 Rather than going 60 miles offshore, as you do at San Francisco, and 

 120 miles offshore, as you do in Virginia, they now propose to go 

 how many miles offshore at some of these sites ? 



Dr. LiEBERMxVN. Some are as close as 19 miles if I recall. 



Mr. Lennon. That is certainly an economy measure, is it not? 



Dr. LiEBERMAN. That is certainly tiiie, yes, sir. You do not ne^ 

 ocean-going vessels to go these shorter distances. 



There is another aspect to consider. One conceivably can state that 

 at these in-shore areas, or at an in-shore area, that the degree of con- 

 tinuing control in monitoring that you could maintain in thase areas 

 would be greater than that which you could maintain over a much 

 deeper area farther out at sea. 



Mr. Lennon. You know something about the Gulf Stream as it 

 moves along the coastline of North Carolina. It is no more than 55 

 miles at any one spot along our coast. 



Offshore fishing is a big thing in the Gulf Stream, and between the 

 shoreline and the Gulf Stream. 



Don't you think it is practical to take this stuff out at least beyond 

 the Gulf Stream rather than having it move back and forth with the 

 current of the Gulf Stream ? 



Dr. LiEBERMAN. Certainly this is possible. Again, the only thing 

 I can add here is that with the kinds of waste we are talking about, 

 and this is perhaps strictly from a technical sense, and it does not 

 mean to say I do not have an appreciation for the psychological and 

 public relations problems involved 



Mr. Lennon. That should be considered. 



Dr. LiEBERMAN. I agree they are prodigious. With the quantities 

 of radioactivity we are talking about this could be done safely with- 

 out going Ijeyond the Gulf Stream. 



It could be done just as safely by going farther out. Tli?re are 

 some advantages and disadvantages on both sides. 



Mr. Lennon. What are the advantages other than economics in 

 putting it offshore 20 miles? 



Dr. LiEBERMAN. I would not want to ascribe a sj)ecific level of im- 

 portance to this, but it would be much easier to go out and share these 



