150 



Federal Government and would help to both clarify and to strengthen 

 the Federal role in enforcement. 



It is inexcusable that in the midst of concern for other areas of our 

 environment no standards have ever been adopted by the Federal Gov- 

 ernment which would effectively regulate the discharge of industrial or 

 other waste into ocean or coastal waters, that no industry wishing to 

 dump in coastal waters has been required to demonstrate the effect of 

 that dumping, and that, as a result, some 48 million tons of materials 

 are yearly deposited in what is a vanishing but hopefully salvageable 

 natural resource. 



Mr. Lennon. The subcommittee appreciates your testimony here 

 this morning, Mr. Giaimo. 



Our friend from New York, the able Seymour Halpern, will now 

 be our next witness. 



STATEMENT OF HON. SEYMOUR HALPERN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK 



Mr. Halpern. Thank you for this opportunity to speak in favor of 

 legislation designed to halt the promiscuous dumping of waste ma- 

 terials into the ocean and to develop orderly arrangements for regula- 

 tion of the practice. 



I am told that over 44 bills aimed at regulating ocean dumping have 

 been introduced in Congress so far this session. Some of these bills 

 call for designating specific dumping sites and for standards to apply. 

 Others specify areas of sanctuary Avherein nothing can be dumped. 

 There are bills dealing solely with oil and other hazardous substances 

 while others are concerned with disposal of munitions and poisonous 

 gases. Obviously all of these bills have merit and serve to demonstrate 

 how broad the problem is. 



Perhaps the outstandingly bad example of environmental abuse by 

 ocean dumping is in the New York Bight into which the City of New 

 York dumps its sewage and sludge along with all sorts of garbage 

 euphemistically called solid wastes. Studies by the Corps of Engineers, 

 the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service have recently been completed. Tlieir report has been 

 released and is contained within hearings before this committee held 

 July 27, 28, September 30, 1970, entitled "Dumping of Waste Mate- 

 rial." Serial No. 91-39. I would like to quote for the committee certain 

 of the summary conclusions drawn by this report: 



1. The New York Harbor Complex must rank as one of the largest grossly 

 polluted areas in the United States. 



2. The major sources of pollution in the New York Bight are (1) sewer and 

 industrial outfalls. (2) ocean disposal of sewage sludge and dredge spoil, (3) 

 river discharge and land runoff, (4) wastes from vessels, (5) accidental spills, 

 and (6) harbor debris. 



3. No significant improvement in the water quality in the New Y'ork Bight can 

 be expected until the mid-70's. Complete secondary treatment is not scheduled 

 for New York City and Passaic Valley Sanitation Commission until 1076. Addi- 

 tional pollution treatment facilities in up-river and shoreline communities will 

 not be completed until the mid-70's. Vessel pollution should be significantly re- 

 duced under the provisions of the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970. 



4. Even with completion of all currently proposed pollution abatement pro- 

 grams, conditions in the New York Bight will fall short of what must be the 

 ultimate goal of protecting coastal ocean environments from serious degradation. 



