547 
employment for over a quarterof-a-million people and has an impact of over 26.5 54llion 
on the U.S. economy. It is a resource used by foreign fishermen from more than 
17 nations, U.S. commercial fishermen, and an estimated 30 million recreational 
fishermen, whose catch is roughly equal in size and value to the catch of edible 
fish by U.S. commercial fishermen. 
I am in strong support of the efforts of Chairman D'Amours to close the 
many loopholes in the Ocean Dumping Act. The use of the term "unreasonable 
degradation of the environment" has been given a new meaning by the EPA. The 
liberalization of this term for the justification of continued ocean dumping 
has caused severe damage to the ecological system along the New Jersey coast, 
as well as many other marine wetlands and offshore fishing areas. It is my 
belief that our precious marine resources will not tolerate a weakening of the 
Ocean Dumping Act or an extension of dumping deadlines. 
EPA should favor the portion of law which gives greater assurance of environmental 
_ Safety, and not conclude as they did in a recent chemical dumping application, that 
a "lack of demonstrated harm" settles the matter. A report published by NOAA 
on the results of a scientific workshop at Crystal.Mountain, Washington, concluded 
that "in the New York Bight there is evidence that the assimilative capacities 
of some substances or in some areas have been reached or exceeded." 
Again, I call upon this committee to carefully review the data on the effects 
of ocean dumping on our environment. I invite members of this committee to visit 
the waterways, beaches and offshore fishing grounds of my Congressional district for 
they are some of the most beautiful in the world. _ It is my hope that this committee 
will vote to restore strength to the Ocean Dumping Act and end the dumping of harmful 
sludge and chemical wastes in the New York Bight and throughout our Nation's coastal 
waters. We owe this protection and preservation to ourselves, our children and the 
earth. 
