177 
STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES J. HOWARD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN 
CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY; ACCOMPANIED BY 
THOMAS MALONEY, RESEARCH ASSISTANT 
Mr. Howarp. Thank you very much. I wish to state my gratitude to 
the committee for conducting these hearings, and to commend the gen- 
tleman from Michigan and his colleagues for their continued interest 
in our environment. I do have a brief statement that I would like to 
read. With me is Mr. Maloney from my staff who has been working in 
this area. 
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to have the opportunity to testify to- 
day on the three bills which your committee is considering. This leg- 
islation is vitally important, as becomes clearer every day as the waters 
on the coast of the United States become increasingly fouled with 
pollution. 
I have the honor to represent the Third Congressional District of 
New Jersey, which borders on the Atlantic Ocean. This area contains 
some of the finest beaches on the east coast—beaches that are now en- 
dangered because a mere 10 miles offshore the Army Corps of En- 
gineers maintains an area used for dumping sewage sludge and dredg- 
ing spoils. 
In February I introduced H.R. 15915, to amend the act of June 29, 
1888, relating to the prevention of obstructive and injurious deposits 
in the harbor of New York. This bill is substantively identical] to H.R. 
15827 which is before your committee today. My bill was referred to 
the Committee on Public Works, Subcommittee on Rivers and Har- 
bors, and I chaired hearings on it on February 23 at Sandy Hook, N.J. 
For the information of your committee I would be pleased to offer the 
report of those hearings for the record or for your files. 
Mr. Dineetxt. Without objection the hearings referred to will be re- 
viewed by the staff and if it is possible to insert them we will insert 
them in their entirety, and if not, we will have counsel discuss with 
you such portions of those hearings as you desire to have appended 
hereto. 
Mr. Howarv. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 
This report includes an interim progress report on the study of the 
effects of waste disposal in the New York Bight area by the Sandy 
Hook Marine Laboratory of the Department of the Interior. This 
document shows very clearly that dumping wastes in the coastal waters 
of the United States is an acute danger to marine life and human 
health, to say nothing of the economic peril it poses to resort 
communities. 
In the New York Bight area, the Corps of Engineers has regulated 
dumping since 1888. The current dumping grounds have been used 
for the past 40 years. Between 11 and 33 million cubic yards of sewage 
sludge and dredging spoils are dumped annually. Yet respite the is- 
suance of permits, the area has become literally a “Dead Sea,” a pol- 
luted doldrum devoid of any life. We have in effect allowed the crea- 
tion of a cesspool within 10 miles of the fine resort beaches adjacent 
to the metropolitan area. 
