5 



Needless to say, there is no excuse for any vessel, be it a cruise ship, an oil 

 tanker, or a day boat, to illegally dispose of plastic garbage bags at sea. The impact 

 of these activities on marine life is devastating. In many cases, plastic rings are 

 found around the necks of birds and marine mammals mistake garbage for food and 

 ingest it; leading to their death. 



Three months ago, I watched "CBS This Morning", in which they did a short 

 piece on the growing problems associated with cruise ship pollution. The piece fo- 

 cused on an incident in which a ship employee was videotaped throwing plastic 

 trash bags over the side of the ship and into the ocean. The video tape, captured by 

 a passenger, was turned over to the Coast Guard as evidence. Unfortunately, while 

 cruise ships may commonly dispose of their garbage this way, many times passen- 

 gers are not there to capture their illegal activities. 



As I watched this shocking episode on "CBS This Morning", I was very concerned 

 about the lack of responsibility on the part of the cruise line industry. In fact, I 

 have to wonder if there is a need to develop effective educational programs for the 

 industry to ensure that they are more aware of existing laws and can then educate 

 their employees of these laws. 



I was surprised to also learn that the cruise line industry feels that what was cap- 

 tured on the video tape is only one of a few very isolated incidents in which their 

 ships have illegally dumped garbage at sea. 



I must admit that I am skeptical of this assessment. In fact, I am concerned that 

 this problem is much more widespread than one would be lead to believe. I hope, 

 however, that my suspicions are not valid. If they are, then action is desperately 

 needed. 



Seeing that the laws prohibiting this activity have existed for a number of years, I 

 am concerned that the industry needs to be reminded that disposal of plastic gar- 

 bage bags into the ocean is an illegal activity. 



Yet, while I hold the cruise line and shipping industry responsible for these inci- 

 dents, I am also concerned about the Coast Guard's role in enforcing existing laws 

 that are designed to prohibit these activities. 



First of all, I would like to know why can't the Coast Guard do more to enforce 

 existing laws to ensure that these incidents do not take place? Is it because the 

 Coast Guard is currently so underfunded that enforcement is practically impossible? 



Also, are enforcing laws such as MARPOL and the Marine Plastic Pollution Re- 

 search and Control Act not a priority for the Coast Guard or is due to a lack of 

 commitment to address this matter? 



It seems to me that if we are really going to be serious about protecting our 

 oceans, then we must be serious about enforcing the laws that exist for that pur- 

 pose. If these laws are not adequate, then they should be reexamined to determine 

 how best to improve their intent and purpose. 



Mr. Chairman, again, thank you for holding this important hearing today. I look 

 forward to hearing from our witnesses. I hope that we will have an opportunity to 

 discuss some of the points raised here this morning as well as develop a better un- 

 derstanding of what needs to be done to ensure that this matter is addressed in a 

 timely fashion. 



Mr. Tauzin. All written statements will be part of the record. Is 

 there any further opening statements? Then the Chair is pleased to 

 welcome the first panel. I have a special introduction to make first. 

 We will have one panel today consisting of five witnesses. The first 

 witness is a citizen of our country, the citizen who, in fact, was a 

 passenger on a cruise ship who videotaped the crew of the ship 

 dumping plastic bags — trash — overboard late at night. Al has asked 

 that we maintain his privacy by not publicizing his last name, 1 and 

 this committee will honor his request. 



His videotape led to the successful prosecution of the Princess 

 Cruise Lines which pled guilty last month to violating the Act to 

 Prevent Pollution at Sea — the Love Boat dumping garbage. Hope- 

 fully we don't end up with a Love Canal boat as a result. We have 

 today video evidence of what our Act was designed to prevent. 



l The witnesses, Mr. Alvin Levett, has asked that his full name be written into the official 

 hearing record. 



