347 



these may be parties having no need of a radioactive waste 

 disposal alternative. Other parties, faced with the problem, 

 may interpret the Convention more permissively. 



In 1976, the House Subcommitttee on Energy and the 

 Environment, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, , held 

 oversight hearings on Radiological Contamination of the Oceans. 

 Serial No. 94-69 (1977). Subcommittee Chairman Morris K. Udall 

 requested various agencies to state their views of the legal 

 status of disposing of high level radioactive wastes uponi 

 or under the ocean bottom. The responding agencies were of 

 various views . 



The Department of State concluded that disposal upon the 

 ocean bottom falls within the Convention's prohibition, and 

 disposal under the ocean bottom would be prohibited if it 

 poses a threat of pollution to the marine environment. "U 

 The Energy Research and Development Administration determined 

 that "dumping" under the Convention can be interpreted as 

 including deep seabed emplacement. "If EPA's response was 

 limited to legality under domestic law, concluding that 

 emplacement is barred by the Ocean Dun5>ing Act. 3^/ 



Finally, David A. Deese, associated with the Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution, wrote that in his opinion customary 

 international law clearly prohibits any form of high-level 

 radioactive waste disposal upon the sea bottom by all countries, 

 but the legality of disposal under the ocean bottom requires 

 additional investigation. 4/ Mr. Deese noted the ambiguity 

 of the Convention's "at sea" phrase in the definition of 

 "dumping." He tentatively suggested that the parties contem- 

 plated only that "at sea" referred to dumping where early 



1^/ Letter from Ken^Jton B., Jenkins, Acting Assistant 

 Secretary of Congressional Relations, Department of State, 

 Nov. 16, 1976, Serial No. 94-69 at 798-799. 



2j Letter from Stephen H. Greenleigh, Assistant General - . - 

 Counsel for Program. Development^. ERDA, Aug. 4, 1976^. Seri aV 

 No. 94-69 at 816-817. 



3^/ Letter from Roger Strelow, Assistant Administrator for Air 

 and Waste Management, Sept. 10, 1976, Serial No. 94-69 at 

 800. 



4/ Letter from David A. Deese, Marine Policy and Ocean 

 Management, Sept. 30, .1976, Serial No. 94-69 at 820-823. 



