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STATEMENTS OF KENNETH KAMLET, DIRECTOR, POLLUTION 

 AND TOXIC SUBSTANCES DIVISION, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FED- 

 ERATION; AND WILLIAM L. LAHEY, RESEARCH FELLOW, 

 MARINE POLICY AND OCEAN MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, WOODS 

 HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION 



Mr. Hughes. We welcome you today. We have your statements 

 which we will make part of the record. We hope you can summa- 

 rize for us and we can begin with you, Ken. 



STATEMENT OF KENNETH KAMLET 



Mr. Kamlet. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Although we are convinced that Congress intended that the 

 ocean dumping of harmful sewage sludge be entirely terminated by 

 the end of 1981 and that such a result is eminently desirable from 

 an environmental standpoint, we nevertheless support the Hughes- 

 Forsythe proposal which provides for terminating sludge dumping 

 at the 12-mile site by the end of 1986. 



We take this position with some reluctance because the legisla- 

 tion would not mandate an end to all ocean dumping of harmful 

 sewage sludge. But despite this shortcoming we believe the propos- 

 al represents a giant step in the right direction and deserves the 

 full support of this committee and the Congress. 



Our decision, I might add, to support this proposal was made 

 vastly easier by its incorporation of two provisions we regard as 

 critical, first, the requirement of a plan to restore the environmen- 

 tal quality of the New York Bight Apex as a whole, and second, the 

 imposition of a special fee to reduce the economic attractiveness of 

 ready access to a convenient near-shore ocean dumping site. 



Let me comment on a few specific points if I might, Mr. Chair- 

 man. 



First, it is clear that the New York Bight Apex is a highly de- 

 graded environment and ocean dumping of sewage sludge and 

 other materials contributes significantly in our view to this degra- 

 dation. Exhibit 1 prepared by Dr. Paul Ringold, a marine biologist 

 on my staff, summarizes and documents some of the pertinent sci- 

 entific evidence concerning the condition of the bight apex and the 

 factors contributing to that condition. 



My prepared statement indicates that anywhere from half to 

 more than two-thirds of the PCB contamination of the bight is at- 

 tributable to ocean dumping, at least based on figures of the 1970's, 

 as are close to 40 percent of the bight's petroleum hydrocarbon con- 

 tamination. And virtually all of its cadmium contamination and al- 

 though municipal waste water appears to be a more important 

 source than sewage sludge of disease-producing microorganisms 

 and the heavy metal mercury, my statement indicates that the 

 widely cited estimates of contaminant imputs to the bight are sys- 

 tematically understating the contributions of ocean-dumped mate- 

 rials generally and of ocean-dumped sewage sludge in particular; 

 consequently, while it is true that ultimate rehabilitation of the 

 apex will require measures beyond simply controlling ocean dump- 

 ing, it is clear also that the simple expedient of ending ocean 

 dumping of sewage sludge at the 12-mile site is likely to have a sig- 

 nificant and positive impact on the environmental quality of the 



