78 



gram would be applicable to many fresh wa- 

 ter bodies and to seriously polluted estuaries. 



The Commission proposes a National Proj- 

 ect to assess the feasibility of restoring the 

 Great Lakes. There is evidence that restora- 

 tion is possible, but it must be further ampli- 

 fied through scientific research and through 

 development and testing of new technology. 



Although several invastigations are now 

 underway, they are not coordinated, and no 

 common goal has been established. A Na- 

 tional Project would reinforce current inves- 

 tigations and bring additional competence 

 from industry, academic institutions, and 

 Federal laboratories. 



The Commission's Panel on Marine Engi- 

 neering and Technology has developed the 

 concept of a fresh water restoration project 

 to be pursued on a lake of manageable size 

 as a feasibility test. Scientific research into 

 the ecology of the lake would be followed by 

 technological development of pollution meas- 

 uring devices, inflow and outflow design and 

 control, aeration techniques, large-scale mix- 

 ing techniques, thermal pollution control and 

 enrichment, artificial bottom coating, meth- 

 ods of artificial destratification, thermal up- 

 welling techniques, filtering, mass harvest- 

 ing of living plants and annuals, restocking, 

 and ecological manipulation. 



It is probable that new industries for con- 

 tinuing lake restoration and control opera- 

 tions would result if the preliminary pro- 

 grams show promise. The results from such 

 a pilot study should permit evaluation of the 

 feasibility of attempting restoration of dam- 

 aged portions of the Great Lakes. 



The Commission recommends that the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agen- 

 cy launch a National Project to explore 

 the techniques of water quality restora- 

 tion for the Great Lakes. Once feasibility 

 has been established, the Federal Water 



Pollution Control Administration should 

 assume responsibility for implementation. 



In the case of the Great Lakes restoration, 

 procedures would be coordinated with the 

 International Joint Commission for the 

 Great Lakes. 



Waste Management: A Total View 



An attack upon pollution in the coastal 

 zone cannot be entirely separated from our 

 efforts to reduce pollution in the entire en- 

 vironment. Prevention is more efficient than 

 treatment, and treatment better than seek- 

 ing to correct the effects of pollution after it 

 has occurred. 



The magnitude of our waste management 

 problem is a measure of the affluence and of 

 the economic incentives of our society. Our 

 economy is geared for producing goods for 

 consumption, and we have developed an elab- 

 orate marketing and transportation system 

 to get these goods to the consmner. LTnfor- 

 tunately, the consumer consumes very little; 

 at most he transforms the product. New 

 means must be found to encourage producers 

 to place into distribution more truly con- 

 sumable products and to develop incentives 

 for completing the cycle by retrieving the 

 unconsmned remains from the consumers. 



A fragmentary approach to pollution 

 abatement will not be effective. Burning or 

 burying wastes rather than dumping them 

 in streams does not solve the problem ; it only 

 changes the jurisdiction. A farmer who 

 sprays his fields with pesticides is not held re- 

 sponsible for the material that drains into 

 the streams, nor does he have any economic 

 incentive for looking for alternative solu- 

 tions to the problem. Vigorous enforcement 

 in some areas and weak enforcement in others 

 will not help to meet the Nation's waste dis- 

 posal crisis. Such haphazard action will en- 

 courage only relocation of industry. 



