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Jersey. Ms. Liburdi will address the permit application process 

 with specific regard to the pending permit for the disposal of 

 dredged material from the Port Authority's terminal area in 

 Newark Bay. 



Next is Ms. Sarah Clark, Staff Scientist for the Environmental 

 Defense Fund who will discuss some of the environmental commu- 

 nities' concerns over the current permitting process and the cur- 

 rent options for ocean disposal. Finally, our third witness for this 

 panel is Mr. Dwayne Lee, Deputy Executive Director of Develop- 

 ment of the Port of Los Angeles representing the American Asso- 

 ciation of Port Authorities. Mr. Lee will address the permitting 

 process from a national port perspective. As with our first panel, I 

 would like to remind each of the witnesses to try and limit your 

 oral statements to five minutes, and your written testimony will be 

 placed in the hearing record. Before we start with Ms. Liburdi, Mr. 

 Pallone, would you like to submit that for the record? 



Mr. Pallone. If I could, I would like to ask unanimous consent 

 to submit a letter from Richard B. Roe, Regional Director of the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service, to Colonel York of the New 

 York District for the Corps of Engineers which I believe — well, of 

 course, it speaks for itself but indicates that formal consultation by 

 NMFS is warranted. If I could, Mr. Chairman? 



Mr. Green. If there is no objection, if you will provide that to the 

 staff, we will include it in the record. 



Mr. Pallone. Thank you. 



Mr. Green. Ms. Liburdi. 



STATEMENT OF LILLIAN LIBURDI, DIRECTOR OF PORT DEPART- 

 MENT, PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY 



Ms. Liburdi. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am Lillian Liburdi, the 

 Director of the Port Department of the Port Authority of New 

 York and New Jersey, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify 

 before this distinguished committee on dredging and ocean disposal 

 of dredge material. My full statement will be submitted for the 

 record, and it will address the length of time it takes for decision- 

 making within the regulatory process, discuss the high cost of test- 

 ing, and demonstrate the need for a proactive Federal policy initia- 

 tive on dredging and disposal necessary to solve what I see as a na- 

 tional dredging crisis. 



But we are also the applicant of the Port Authority Newark and 

 Elizabeth Marine Terminal Dredging Permit, and in that regard, I 

 would like to set forth a few important points. First of all, in that 

 permit, we are not talking about toxic or hazardous materials ac- 

 cording to Federal definition, for such materials are not dredged 

 and disposed of in the ocean. What we are talking about disposing 

 in the ocean are sediments that have low levels of contamination. 

 We are not appearing before you as the offending industrial pollut- 

 er but as the agency contending with the consequence of the pollut- 

 er's actions. 



It is our responsibility as a public port agency to both maintain 

 marine terminal facilities for commerce and to do so with the 

 utmost respect for the environment. We cannot adopt an indiffer- 

 ent attitude regarding the real costs and consequences of govern- 



