559 
Monitoring of Past Radioactive Waste Ocean Dumpsites 
And "Test" Sites Is Needed To Provide Effective 
Assurances That There Are No Undue Hazards to Human 
Health and The Environment, And to Assist In the 
Development of Future Policies 
low? (Galslsereoyev 1B (ieeete sts) IL/ 
Introduction 
In January 1981, Senator William Roth, Jr. asked the General 
Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the United States past pro- 
gram of radioactive waste disposal at sea. This program was dis- 
continued in June of 1970; however, there has been recent discus- 
sion by U.S. government officials of reviving the practice of 
ocean dumping. Senator Roth's request to GAO was made in response 
to these discussions and his concerns about the possible health 
and environmental hazards that may result from ocean dumping. He 
requested the GAO to address three issues: 
@ the adequacy of Federal efforts to identify the 
extent and locations of radioactive wastes dumped 
by the U.S. Government and private industry; 
e the effectiveness of Federal efforts to assure 
that nuclear waste already dumped into the ocean 
poses no undue hazard to the health of U.S. 
citizens or to the environment; and 
l/ Mr. Curtis is an attorney with the Center for Law and Social 
Policy, Washington, D.C. Since 1978 he has represented environ- 
mental organizations in the U.S. and western Europe on matters 
related to ocean disposal of radioactive waste. During that time 
Mr. Curtis has been a member of the EPA/Dept. of State Ocean 
Dumping Advisory Committee. He served as an Advisor on the U.S. 
delegation to the Third Consultative Meeting of the London Dumping 
Convention (1978), represented Friends of the Earth, Int., at the 
Fourth Consultative Meeting (1979), and Greenpeace, International, 
at the Sixth Consultative Meeting (1981). Mr. Curtis is also a 
member of the National Research Council's Marine Board. He was 
assisted in the preparation of this paper by: Darcev Rosenblatt, 
a volunteer who completed her Masters in Marine Affairs, Univ. of 
Washington, in 1981; and Jim McLeod, a law student intern et the 
Center during the summer of 1982. from Vermont Law School. 
