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of the marine environment. The dumping of radioactive wastes, toxic 

 industrial wastes, and chemical and biological warfare materials would 

 be flatly prohibited, and standards would be established for treatment 

 of sewage and industrial wastes disposed of under a permit. Violation 

 of the permit requirement would be punishable bv a fine of $2,000 to 

 $10,000 for a first offense, and $10,000 to $25,000 for each succeeding 

 offense. 



Recent news reports about the contamination of marine life, in- 

 cluding the fish we eat, by mercury, DDT, and NTA, and the destruc- 

 tion of the waters of the New York Bight through excessive sludge 

 dumping, prove the danger of indiscriminate dumping. Remarkable 

 as the marine ecosystem may be, it cannot contmue to cleanse itself 

 indefinitely while man dumps infinite amounts of waste into the ocean. 



Action to protect our marine environment is urgently needed, and I 

 urge adoption of a strong bill by these subcommittees and by your full 

 committee. 



Mr. DiNGELL. The subcommittee appreciates your time for an excel- 

 lent and informative statement. 



ISText we wish to have our good friend and very able minority 

 leader of the Plouse, Hon. Gerald R. Ford. 



STATEMENT OF HON. GERALD S. FORD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 

 CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN 



jSIr. FoED. Thank you Mr. Chairman. The horrendous problems cre- 

 ated by our pollution of the environment have finallj^ come to the fore- 

 front of the national conscience and are receiving the attention they 

 deserve. 



Cleanup has become an everyday word. But how much better it would 

 have been had we forestalled the pollution which is necessitating clean- 

 ups throughout the Nation and throughout the world. 



There are environmental problems that are far more critical than 

 ocean dumping. But there is no time better than the present for ac- 

 knowledging that the current level of ocean dumping is creating serious 

 environmental damage in some areas. 



"We should recognize now that the volume of wastes dumped in the 

 ocean is increasing rapidly. 



We should warn ourselves now that a vast new influx of wastes is 

 likely to occur as municipalities and industries look to the oceans as a 

 convenient spot to dump their wastes. 



We should view with alarm now the trends indicating that ocean 

 dumping could become a major, nationwide environmental problem. 



The oceans cover nearly three-fourths of the world's surface. They 

 are critical to maintaining our environment. They contribute to the 

 basic oxygen-carbon dioxide balance upon which human and animal 

 life depends. 



We must act now to safeguard our basic environmental balance by 

 banning unregulated dumping of any materials into the oceans and by 

 strictly limiting the ocean disposal of any materials harmful to the 

 environment. 



I have introduced a bill, H.R. 6771, which would accomplish these 

 objectives. Needless to say, I strongly endorse the identical bills now 



