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oceans, and we must stop using them as huge open sewers which can 

 absorb pollutants on an unrestricted and indefinite basis. 



Reports on ocean contaminants from leading scientists and engineers 

 are truly alarming. Thor Teyderdahl, in his attempt to cross the ocean 

 in a reed ship, found that he could not fill containers for desalting for 

 drinking water in the middle of the ocean because of the filthy con- 

 dition of the water. Dr. Jacques Cousteau, famed oceanologist who has 

 traveled nearly 155,000 miles in the last 31/^ years exploring the oceans 

 of the world, recently concluded : "The oceans are in danger of dying. 

 The pollution is general." 



I am pleased that the President has taken aifirmative action in seek- 

 ing greatly reduced ocean dumping and I am glad that the thrust of 

 the administration bill and my bill are similar. My bill requires a cer- 

 tification from the Council on Environmental Quality before any ocean 

 dumping would be allowed, while the administration bill requires a 

 certificate from the Environmental Protection Agency. In light of the 

 increased responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency for 

 monitoring various aspects of environment pollution, I favor amend- 

 ing my bill to place jurisdiction with the Environmental Protection 

 Agency. 



It has been estimated that in 1968 slightly over 48 million tons of 

 waste were dumped at sea off the shores of the United States. Many of 

 these wastes are oxygen-demanding materials, which have the poten- 

 tial to reduce oxygen in ocean waters to levels in which the aquatic lif o 

 cannot live. The volume of waste dumping is growing rapidly, and 

 with many major cities running out of landfill areas, they will be look- 

 ing toward the oceans to get rid of their wastes. 



As the most prosperous industrialized nation in the world, we must 

 set an example for other nations to follow in cleaning up and keeping 

 clean our oceans. 



I hope that the committee will give careful consideration to section 2 

 of my bill, H.R. 1214. to control ocean dumping, as I believe it directly 

 and firmly attacks the problem and will aid in preserving our life- 

 giving oceans. 



I thank the committee for the opportunity to present this statement. 



Mr. Lennon. Thank you for an excellent statement. Congressman. 



I would now like to call the gentleman from New York, our friend 

 Jack Kemp. 



STATEMENT OF HON. JACK F. KEMP, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW YORK 



Mr. Kemp. The problem of water pollution has, unfortunately, been 

 ignored for too long. The results of such apathy are now being paid 

 for, and they have been and will be paid in far larger amounts than 

 would have been expended upon an enlightened and effective policy 

 of preventing such pollution. 



In the last 7 years, for example, commercial fishing off the New 

 York-New Jersey coast has dropped from 673 million pounds to 133 

 million, a decline of 80 percent. Oyster production for the same pe- 

 riod is off by 43 percent. As the New York Times recently noted, "A 

 major factor in these staggering losses is the sludge dumped offshore 



