138 



Reuss stated to the Corps of Engineers and to the Coast Guard that 

 the corps can control under supervisory law where wastes are trans- 

 ported from New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore Harbors. The Coast 

 Guard controls all hazardous materials ; for example, poisons, and so 

 forth. So one of the problems, in other w^ords, that we face is that we 

 have several agencies in the act and one of the things we want to con- 

 sider is whether or not we want to change that ; and it is an important 

 consideration. 



The other, gentlemen, it seems to me is the question of whether or 

 not any kind of dumping ought to be permitted unless we have a sound 

 scientific base for it. I cannot get too excited by saying that dumping 

 is bad inside of 3 miles but it might be all right a hundred miles out. 

 I know that the committee will have to struggle with that problem 

 also. The whole question of designated dumps and supervised dumps 

 and authorized dumps is not one easily resolved. 



We have reached the point in the crisis of the pollution of our 

 oceans where anything less than comprehensive legislation to strictly 

 control ocean dumping internationally would mean that the cancer 

 we face is terminal. 



Not too long ago, 1966 as a matter of fact, the philosophy which 

 the chairman has enunciated in his opening statement was rather 

 strongly urged. A delegate at the First International Conference on 

 Waste Disposal in the Sea in 1966 said this : 



The great economy inherent in the discharge of urban sewage and industrial 

 wastes into near-shore waters for final disposal is apparent to all who will 

 investigate. It is doubly apparent to those charged with the responsibility of 

 disposing of such wastes without excessive cost to the public or menace to public 

 health. If the ocean, or one of its arms, can be reaclidd with a sewer outfall within 

 the bounds of economy, the grim spectre of an expensive complete treatment 

 plant grows dimmer and dimmer until it fades entirely and, to the great satis^ 

 faction of those who have to gather funds for the public budget, as well as 

 they (you and I) who have to pay the bill, the good old ocean does the job free. 



And small wonder that we look to the sea for this assist. Its vast area and 

 volume, its oxygen-laden waters, its lack of potability or usefulness for domestic 

 and most industrial purposes, present an unlimited and most attractive reservoir 

 for waste assimilation. 



Now, that was in 1966. I guess we have come a long way. I think we 

 have come a considerable way, and we have got a long way to go. We 

 in this Government have already taken strong steps to protect water 

 quality within the 3-mile limit, where most of this type of dumping 

 takes place. But the increase in the problem of dumping in waters 

 beyond the 3-mile limit has been exponential. 



The concept of the sea as an infinite source of waste absorption must 

 be laid to rest before the disruption in the life cycle of this planet lays 

 the human race to rest. 



Evidence? There is plenty of evidence, gentlemen; some of which 

 we touch upon here. 



Thor Heyerdahl, in his attempt to cross the ocean in a reed ship, 

 found that he could not fill tooth mugs in the middle of the ocean be- 

 cause of the filthy condition of the water. 



Dr. Max Blumer of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute has 

 declared that the amount of tar on the surface of the sea already equals 

 the amount of its surface sea life. 



Two officials of the Federal Water Pollution Control Agency re- 

 cently rode a dredge-clammer 14 miles out into the Atlantic from the 



