158 



The sea has played a great spiritual role in the history of man, and 

 I would hate to see it die of our own neglect. But that is what is hap- 

 pening. No event dramatizes this fact better than the voyage of Thor 

 Heyderdahl who traversed the Atlantic in a small papyrus boat. This 

 brave man, like Leif Erickson, Columbus, and Magellan before him 

 challenged the sea and, by enduring the pain and brutality of the 

 Atlantic, conquered it. And yet thousands of lonely miles at sea the 

 water was sometimes so full of oil and other junk that bathing was im- 

 possible, Wliat a sad commentary on the imprint man has made on his 

 earth. 



Mr. Lennon. Thank you for a very interesting and informative 

 statement. 



Our next witness will be the Honorable Lawrence Coughlin, a very 

 able Member of Congress from the State of Pennsylvania. 



STATEMENT OF HON. LAWEENCE COUGHLIN, A EEPEESENTATIVE 

 IN CONGEESS PEOM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA 



Mr. Coughlin. I am pleased to testify today on a bill, H.E.. 805, 

 that provides specific Federal authority to enforce waste disposal 

 regulations and curb ocean pollution within a 12-mile limit of the 

 shoreline of the United States. The ultimate goal of this legislation is 

 to contribute to the improvement of the ocean environment by allow- 

 ing only that matter into the oceans that is essentially inert or which 

 could be assimilated without adverse effects. 



As cosponsor of this bill, I recognize that we cannot undo with 

 one law what has been allowed to happen over the many decades. I 

 feel, however, that we as Federal legislators must initiate action that 

 will enable the United States to make meaningful contributions to- 

 ward ending rampant pollution of the very basis of our life on 

 earth — the oceans. 



The President's Council on Environmental Quality in its October 

 1970 report indicates to what degree the cavalier dumping of wastes 

 off our shores has affected our environment and our economy. Closing 

 of beaches and bays has become so commonplace that it is accepted al- 

 most as a fact of life in the United States today. Many of us in the 

 Congress have supported legislation to protect and increase the use 

 of recreation areas in and around the coastal waters of the countrJ^ 

 Yet, our efforts in this field cannot succeed in any reasonable measure 

 until we abate the wholesale polluting of these coastal waters. 



According to the Council, about 48 million tons of waste were 

 dumped at sea in 1968. Dredge spoils accounted for 80 percent by 

 weight of all our ocean dumping. The Army Corps of Engineers esti- 

 mated about 34 percent, or 13 million tons, of the material was 

 polluted. 



In 1969, sewage sludge dumped in the New York Bight, an area 

 encompassing the New York Harbor and adjacent coastal areas, had 

 an oxygen demand of approximately 70,000 tons. Tests conducted on 

 wastes taken from this area contained bacteria that cause hepatitis 

 in man. 



All of us are aware of the reports of mercury and DDT which are 

 discharged from industrial plants or run off from our lands, flow into 

 our streams and rivers, and eventually find their way into the ocean. 



