485 
ment and providing the investment for the land site infrastructure 
that makes the port system what it is. 
The Federal Government historically has been providing the 
channel capabilities and this is a role that the Federal Government 
has had and has carried out for 150 years, here again, with a na- 
tional interest objective. 
So I think that is the question. Is it in the national interest? We 
submit that it very definitely is, not only for the economy but also 
our national defense strategies depend very heavily on the capabili- 
ties of our navigation system. 
Mr. Hucues. Mr. LeBlanc, you testified at some length on the 
balancing of economic and other interests in determining what is 
unreasonable degradation and what should be permitted to be 
dumped in the ocean. I wonder how you would factor in the risk 
that some of the pollutants and contaminants in the dredge materi- 
al, such as PCB’s, cadmium, and mercury, might impact the public 
health? 
Mr. LEBuanc. I think the public health considerations, the ef- 
fects of contaminants in the dredged material, the experience to 
date with their transport and infiltration into the environment, the 
capacity for assimilation at the dump site, are all factors that will 
constitute knowns and unknowns that have to be put into the over- 
all mix in determining whether or not significant degradation will 
occur, balanced against the existence of other alternatives, the 
need for the operation. 
These are factors that will be considered, but we feel that the 
balance should be struck on where lies the public interest. 
Mr. Hucues. When do you think significant degradation occurs? 
Mr. LEBuanc. That is a concept that has been utilized—in some 
cases it may be appropriate to translate it into numerical stand- 
ards, in other cases it may not. 
It may be in terms of irreversible impact, extent of impact. These 
are terms of art used in the ocean—— 
Mr. HuGues. How about when dumping in the ocean presents a 
high risk of transfer of harmful substances to the food chain? 
Mr. LEBtanc. I think that effect would be one factor to consider. 
Access of the public or dependence of the public upon that food 
chain would be another factor to consider and I think alternative 
means of disposal and whether there would be greater or lesser ad- 
verse impact from the effects should be considered. 
Is the no action alternative feasible or is this a situation where 
_ there is a need to go forward with it? These are decisions that will 
ultimately have to be taken account of in the normal permit proc- 
ess on a controversial subject. 
It will be fully briefed by the interested parties. 
One thing that has been an emerging development in the ocean 
dumping field is the use of special care measures to isolate highly 
contaminated dredged material such as the clean material capping 
that Dr. Pequeqnat addresses in his work. 
Dr. Pequeqnat is presently preparing an update for presentation 
to the scientific group that would focus on developments and expe- 
riences with special care measures since the last session of the sci- 
entific group last year, and that will be presented in the fall. 
