190 
chronic_and major problems that will affect children and old 
people. So, can you not give us some more time?” 
What is your answer to that? 
Captain CousTEAu. I think I have answered, sir, by saying that 
we must temporarily consider the political and economic difficul- 
ties faced by the leaders of these cities. | have answered your ques- 
tion. The only thing I am asking is that these measures be only 
transient, because it is impossible to carry on like this for a long 
time. 
Mr. PRITCHARD. I would agree. I will yield, because I know every- 
one wants to ask questions. 
Mr. D’Amours. The chairman of the Fisheries and Wildlife Sub- 
committee, Mr. Breaux, from Louisiana. 
Mr. BrREAuUx. Bienvenue, Monsieur Cousteau. We are pleased to 
have you. You have been before our committee in the past and 
always made a very viable contribution. None of us, as you will 
probably learn very quickly if you do not suspect it already, is a 
scientist or a person who has made a career of studying oceans and 
the effects of dumping in the oceans, but we are all very concerned 
with trying to get the best possible information that we can. 
We had our Deputy Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environ- 
mental Protection Agency testify before this committee last week. 
On the question of the effects of dumping sewage sludge or some 
dredged materials in the oceans, she says that it has been studied 
extensively over the last 10 years, and her conclusion in testifying 
before our committee was that the ocean does have a capacity to 
assimilate both naturally occurring organic material, such as do- 
mestic sewage and uncontaminated dredged materials. She pointed 
out, further, that they did have a serious concern over the disposal 
of sludge material which contained toxic organics or high concen- 
trations of heavy metals. 
She based her testimony on a number of scientific publications 
she referred to, one being the so-called Crystal Mountain Work- 
shop, which was a workshop that brought in scientists from Johns 
Hopkins, the Scripps Institute on Oceanography, the Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institute, and from our National Oceanic and At- 
mospheric Administration. She said the results of these studies in- 
dicated that we have a choice between trying to dispose of this ma- 
terial on land, which can create problems, and marine disposal, 
which has potential adverse impacts on the oceans. Their conclu- 
sion was that the oceans should still continue to be considered as 
an alternative for certain kinds of waste. I am wondering whether 
you would agree with that position. 
Captain CousTEAu. No; I do not, but not in an abrupt way. Our 
problem is due to the fact that the sludge and these products are 
complex. Some of the compounds are beneficial to the ocean. Some 
of them are poison. It would be highly desirable if it were possible 
to separate them, and I know it is not possible in today’s technol- 
ogy. But another reason for me to be very skeptical is that every 
week two or three new products that we know nothing about are 
ee to the extremely complex compositions of these dumping ma- 
terials. 
How can we follow up if we do not know? What I proposed earli- 
er is that we purify at the source, instead of waiting until we have 
