OCEAN DUMPING OF WASTE MATERIALS 



WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1971 



House of Representatives, 

 Joint Subcommittees on" Oceanography 

 AND Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation, 



Washington^ D.G. 

 The joint subcommittees met, i^ursiiant to adjournment, at 10 a.m., 

 in room 1334, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John D. Dingell 

 (chairman of the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conserva- 

 tion) presiding. 



Mr. Dingell. The subcommittees will come to order. 

 This is a continuation of the hearings scheduled on the subject of 

 ocean dumping and on legislation related thereto. 



The Chair observes that we have a statement presented to the com- 

 mittee by our colleague, Michael Harrington of Massachusetts. With- 

 out objection, that document will be inserted in the record m its 

 entirety. 



STATEMENT OE HON. MICHAEL J. HAERINGTON, A EEPEESENTA- 

 TIVE IN CONGEESS FEOM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS 



Mr. Harrington. Mr. Chairman, it is my pleasure to appear before, 

 these subcommittees for the second time on this most important sub-, 

 ject of ocean dumping. 



Wlien I testified last July 28 before the Fisheries and Wildlife Con- 

 servation Subcommittee, I had hoped that some form of strong anti- 

 dumping bill would be reported out of committee. That did not happen, 

 but the hearings were valuable in bringing to public attention the 

 danger in which we find ourselves — of losing our oceans to the pollu* 

 tion w^hich is consuming our air and inland waters. :j; 



I am confident that a bill will come out of committee this year; 

 Chairman Garmatz has introduced his own bill, as subcommittee Chair- 

 man Dingell, and there are several others, aside from my own, pending 

 before the committee. All of these bills have merit, and all recognize 

 the obvious need for legislation in this field. 



We cannot wait any longer for firm and binding prohibitions against 

 dumping ecologically hannf ul materials into our oceans. We are in the 

 position of being able now to save our last remaining natural resource 

 from certain destruction by pollution. 



We are hearing more and more about the incredible value of our 

 oceans. We hear that our food supply may eventually come in greater 

 proportion from the ocean than from the land. Untapped mineral 

 resources lie within these waters. As a source of oxygen and through 



(379) 



