226 



STATEMENT OE HON. DON EDWARDS, A EEPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGEESS EEOM THE STATE OE CALIFORNIA 



Mr. Edwaeds. Mr. Chairman, to say that effective legislation estab- 

 lishing a national policy on ocean clumping is needed is to greatly 

 understate the crisis tliis comitry is likely to observe in the near future. 

 The relative and absolute increase of pollution in the face of disastrous 

 health, economic and environmental consequences is shocking. The 

 President's Council on Environmental Quality has reported that 

 between 1964—68 an average of about 7.5 million tons of waste was 

 dumped at sea. Without proper controls, this can be expected to climb 

 to over 150 million tons by 1980. If such activity continues, the only 

 and inevitable consequences we can expect is the unleashing of a Pan- 

 dora's box producing a mixed bag of interrelated and almost insolu- 

 able problems. 



"\'\^iat is astonishing is to discover that the Federal Government is 

 the Ja,nus-headed offender in the field of water pollution. By virtue of 

 the Government's tardiness in handling the problem of ocean drnnp- 

 ing, toxic pollutants have been deposited in the ocean, creating harm- 

 ful and unattractive waters. By its laxity in enforcing statutes already 

 on the books, the Government has been a consjoirator to the pollution 

 of our coastal and inland waterways. But the blame camiot end here. 



Above all, what is most horrifying is that the U.S. Government has 

 been traditionally the major offender in the area of ocean dumping. 

 To begin with, it is estimated that the Department of Defense plans 

 to dump 88,835 tons of munitions alone this 3^ear; exploding large 

 quantities of explosives results in pollution and destroys marine life. 

 The Defense Department believes that a detonation of 1,000 tons of 

 explosives — not an unusual amount to be disposed — will be sufSciently 

 strong to kill marine organisms from 1 to 4 miles — depending on the 

 species. 



Yet, this activity is miniscule in scope when compared with the ex- 

 tent of other offenses. Empowered with the right to dump sludge into 

 waters, the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for most if not 

 all of dredge dumping, which experts calculate constitutes 80 percent 

 of the weight of all ocean dumping. The Army has admitted that at 

 least one-third of these wastes are polluted. This type of dumping 

 is responsible for adding oxygen-demanding materials and hea^^ 

 metals which are detrimental to whole communities of marine or- 

 ganisms. 



The administration's bill is but a slight improvement over what 

 we have on the books now. Due to the application of legislative cos- 

 metics, H.R. 4723 would make it difficult to halt Government dumping 

 operations. I refer specifically to the construction of section 3(e) which 

 does not place "any employee, agent, department, agency, or instru- 

 mentality of the Federal Government" under the sanctions of section 

 6. Then too, because the bill fails to clearly delineate the jurisdiction 

 of the courts, it is unlikely that private citizens will have the oppor- 

 tunity for a forum in which to seek redress from Government dump- 

 ing operations. Moreover, section 11 of the administration's bill dis- 

 courages public involvement in reporting illegal dmnping activities 

 by repealing the finder's fee provisions of the Rivers and Harbors Act 

 of 1899. 



