11 



Prepared Statement of Charles N. Ehler 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee 



I am pleased to be here today to present the views of the 

 i:^,.Lc.\cl 0->.anic ar.d Atir.CGpheric Adnvir.istraticr. (NOAA) on 

 marine pollution problems in the New York Bight. Accompanying 

 me are Hal Stanford, Manager of the Stony Brook Office of the 

 Ocean Assessments Division, and Tom O'Connor, manager of our 

 research program at the 106-mile dumpsite. 



The New York Bight is owned by none but used by all. The 

 Bight and its resources have been exploited as the surrounding 

 region has grown and developed. This has inevitably resulted 

 in certain negative impacts on a significant portion of the 

 Bight and its resources. However, opportunities now exist to 

 reverse some of the damage and to improve its environmental 

 quality. 



To place my remarks in context, let me state that NOAA 

 policy is waste management practices should be designed and 

 implemented to minimize significant risk of harm to living 

 and nonliving resources in any environmental medium — the 

 oceans, land, groundwater, fresh water or atmosphere. If it 

 is determined that disposal, as opposed to an alternative 

 such as recycling, is the preferred option to solve a waste 

 problem, then disposal practices likely to cause the least 

 ri:5k of significant harm should be chosen. NOAA does not 



