580 
-22- 
An increasing concern about the introduction of radio- 
active wastes into the sea is apparent at all levels, 
from local communities to international organizations 
. - .The problems involved are complex and can be 
Solved only through the joint efforts of all agencies; 
local, national, and international. The future will 
bring new and unanticipated problems, and differing 
interpretations of incomplete information may lead 
to controversy. Joint efforts to meet present 
problems will depend upon available knowledge and 
its interpretation. A full and free exchange of 
basic information is necessary. 56 / 
The GAO Report discusses a 1978 Estes Park workshop that was 
conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
(NOAA) to investigate the scientific problems of ocean pollution 
and to suggest programs to solve these problems. GAO reports this 
workshop as finding that, "[t]o date, no impacts on human health 
have been documented; no effects harmful to marine organisms are 
SI 
known, even at the sites of large discharges ... ." However, 
it should be pointed out that again this statement is qualified by 
the words "to date" and "have been documented.” 
Also significant is the fact that the Estes Park workshop 
results go into some detail concerning the need for effective 
Monitoring. This is not reported by GAO. From the workshop: 
[E]xisting dumpsites should be watched for leakage 
of radionuclides to test the validity of present 
assumptions about the retention of disposed 
materials in the sediments and to provide a basis 
for the selection of future disposal areas for low- 
level radioactive wastes. 58/ 
Thus, a fuller statement from the NOAA workshop again shows a tone 
of concern not evidenced in the GAO study. 
56/ Id., 1959 NAS Study at 72-73. 
57/ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Dept. 
of Commerce, Proceedings of a Workshop on Scientific Problems 
Relating to Ocean Pollution (March 1979) at 6. {hereina=ter 
CRESCT aS SNS DE SESS LISTS saheS) Nosy] 6 
