548 
PREPARED STATEMENT OF EDMUND G. Brown, JR., GOVERNOR, STATE OF CALIFORNIA 
Mr. Chairman, as Governer of the State of California, I respectfully 
and forcefully urge the Congress to enact a ban on the ocean disposal of 
radioactive waste by appropriately amending the Marine Protection, Research 
and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. The ocean waters off the California coast 
are now scarred as a result of past cavalier dumping of radioactive and 
other toxic matericls. Waste products trom a past generationhave left a 
legacy of unknown consequence in the marine environment of the Pacific 
Ocean. Additional dumping of long-lived radioisotopes and persistent 
toxic chemicals into such a vital resource as the ocean would reflect an 
ecological insensitivity and weak commitment to environmental stewardship 
on the part of the United States. 
The Reagan Administration is now moving to open the seas to an 
onslaught of toxic byproducts. To the people of California, that 
represents another repugnant disregard for the interests of our state. 
Combined with the efforts to expand offshore oil drilling, attempts to 
resume radioactive waste disposal indicate that the Administration has 
a perspective on the ecological role of the ocean which is entirely dif- 
ferent than that of the State of California. 
Ocean disposal of radioactive wastes is an irresponsible public 
policy which is fostered by a failure to solve the nuclear waste manage- 
ment problem. As nuclear technology has plunged ahead, the riddle of 
waste disposal has lingered amidst elusive promises of future solutions 
The ocean must not be used as a quick-fix answer to the intensifying 
political and economic problem of radioactive waste disposal. Littering 
the seas with nuclear garbage is a shortsighted act in contempt of future 
life. 
