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politan population. We arc talking about the coastal area from Santa 

 Barbara to the San Diego area. 



Firet, this area in southern California has been very much con- 

 c-erned about waste disposal practices and its effects. Four years ago 

 a joint power agreement brought about the formation of a special or- 

 ganization, the southern California coastal water research project 

 (SCCWRP) to midertako a rather substantial, more than $1 million 

 ecological study of conditions on the coastal shelf, not just related to 

 waste disposal but concerned on a broader basis to man's effects on 

 the water, including waste disposal. 



There has been issued recently a report, a copy of which I have 

 before me, and I made a copy available to the staff of the committee, 

 wJiich represents the first 3-year finding-s of this study. 



I might say, related to questions posed earlier today about whether 

 tliere are studies of this nature going on, that this study is continuing, 

 funded primarily by the local agencies at about the $314 million level. 

 So it is a sizable undertaking which was motivated originally by 

 governmental agencies concerned with waste management responsi- 

 bilities. 



I have summarized some of the conclusions verbatim from this 

 report starting on page 3, and they go for essentially two and a half 

 pages. They relate to specific waste characteristics, and their apparent 

 effects in the receiving waters. 



No. 1 is plant nutrients, and the conclusion, these are verbatim 

 statements from the report. "There is now no justification for altering 

 present treatment discharge practices with regard to the plant" and 

 so foi-th. 



This special project has a manager, and it is guided by a consulting 

 boai-d, four scientists and an engineer, the chairman of which is Dr. 

 John Isaacs of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography so that it is 

 steered by competent scientific people, at least with respect to the 

 scientists. As an engineer, I am also on that board, and I won't speak 

 as to my competency. 



I would like to refer to the summary conclusion about waste man- 

 agement practices and their implementation which is No. 2 in my 

 summary statement. 



"To the best of our knowledge, no potential effects other than those 

 indicated herein will renuire major investigation." The "effects" re- 

 fei-red to relate to floatal)le materials and toxic materials for which 

 source control is the most effective means. 



Summary statement No. 3 indicates that no substantial modification 

 of present waste disposal practices, other than improved removal of 

 floatables and source control of toxicants, is justified at present. Obvi- 

 ouslv this is not the ultimate, but' it represents a good step, and the 

 condition of the sea is not in "bad" shape, as is frequently alleged. 

 For those concerned with detailed findings of this study T refer them 

 to the fidl SCCWTJP report which has 1'20 specific findinos. 



Now, I would like to make a couple of comments about the hazards 

 or dangers associated with bans, and uniform or blanket wastewater 

 ti-eatment requirements and their application without concern for 

 local conditions. 



Fii-st with respect to bans, it is popular to talk about "no waste 

 discharge." What that really means is yet to be defined, but it will 

 probably never occur as long as man is on the Earth. 



