500 
Mr. Wuite. Well, if I may say Congressman, the question is near 
and dear to our hearts and I happen to be a lawyer by training and 
instead of telling you the direct answer, I don’t know, let me try a 
little bit to dance around it. 
We have had a number of meetings with our member agencies 
and there is an acceptance of the notion that there should be some 
kind of a contribution, either in technical performance through 
supplying individuals and research laboratories, perhaps funding it 
for personnel from the Federal Government and some kind of a 
sharing arrangement. 
We have not, however, gotten to the point of attempting to draft 
a mechanism. We would believe that it should have independent 
operation if it is to be credible. We recognize that sometimes the 
Federal Government, sometimes local agencies are deemed to have 
axes to grind. So although we do not have a specific answer to your 
question, I can say that if I sense the mood of our group correctly it 
would be perfectly willing to try to come up with a proposal and 
make it something that could be discussed with Congress and per- 
haps refined. 
Mr. ForsytTHE. Well, I think this is rather critical right now, par- 
ticularly as we look toward extending the Ocean Dumping Act. 
Even though there are those of us on this committee, as well as 
some others who will do everything we can to see that the best 
Federal effort is maintained, the budget proposals are not very en- 
couraging in this area. I think any gap in the monitoring effort, 
particularly in New York, would be critical as we try to find the 
answers. If we can come to the conclusion, which I hope we can, 
that we don’t have all the answers, then finding those answers 
should be a high priority. 
We need to monitor what is happening to assure the protection 
of our marine resources and do the research necessary on all dis- 
posal alternatives because, as you say, the wastes are still going to 
be there. 
As we do move into secondary treatment, which I think we 
should, in any area where there is any volume the sludge problem 
obviously becomes greater. We are going to be producing more. 
Happily it is about 90 plus percent water but what do we do as we 
move ahead in making decisions. 
Doug, do you have any comments on this? 
Dr. SEGAR. Well, I think there are a number of things that are 
fairly clear about how such studies would have to be put together. 
The independence of the entity that performed the studies, of 
course, is a very critical factor that Lee referred to. I think Mayor 
Koch and various people have pointed out during these hearings 
that the expertise in the ocean dumping area lies in a number of 
different places. The Federal Government, the academic environ- 
ment and also in private industry. So one would have to look for a 
mechanism whereby each of those sectors could become involved in 
these research and monitoring efforts. 
There are some analogs for independent study commissions 
which could be followed, I think, fairly readily. 
One analog that we have that is perhaps a good starting point, 
although it is not quite, I think, what we would look for, is the 
Southern California Coastal Water Research Project in California. 
