360 



land disposal and b) the setting aside of lands which by virture of soil char- 

 acteristics, egologic substrata locations with respect to groundwater acquires 

 economic factors, etc. might serve as safe disposal areas. 



As already noted, since 1962, little or no significant (luantities or radioactive 

 wastes have been dumped at sea from United States sources. High-level wastes 

 are now stored on an interim basis in large, well-shielded tanks, and will even- 

 tually be concentrated and store<l in such geological formations as salt mines. 

 Solid radioactive wastes have been buried in controlled landfill sites, and com- 

 paction and incineration techniques are being developed to assist this type 

 of disposal. Deactivated reactor vessels and associated parts may be entombed 

 in place or dismantled and buried. 



Conventional munitions may be disposed by burning on land, but this process 

 is often hazardous, noisy and poUutive. However, dismantling and salvage or 

 mass underground burial or detonation may be practical alternatives to ocean 

 disposal. Chemical warfare agents and munitions may be neutralized and treated 

 or incinerated. 



SOURCES 



Council on Environmental Quality, Ocean Dumping: A National Policy (1970). 



Environmental Protection Agency, Ocean Disposal of Barge-Delivered Liquid 

 and Solid Wastes from U.S. Coastal Cities { 1971 ) . 



United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Identification and 

 Control of Pollutants of Broad International Significance, A/Conf. 48/8 (1972). 



Report of an Ad Hoc Panel of GESAMP Experts to Review the Environmental 

 Hazards of Substances Other than Oil Transported by Ships, GESAMP IV/2 

 (1972). 



McKee and Wold, Water Quality Criteria (1963). 



National Academy of Science, Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in the Marine En- 

 vironment (1971). 



Environmental Protection Agency, Water Quality Criteria Data Book (1970- 



71). 



Fassett and Irish, Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology (1963). 



U.S. Department of the Interior, Hazards of Lead in the Environment (1970). 



Environmental Protection Agency, Report on the Problem of Mercury Emis- 

 sions into the Environment of the United States (1972). 



Council on Environmental Quality, Toxic Substances (1971). 



Hearings on Ocean Waste Disposal before the Subcommittee on Oceans and 

 Atmosphere of the Senate Committee on Commerce, 92d Cong.. 1st Sess. (1971). 



American Petroleum Institute, Proceedings of the Joint Conference on the 

 Prevention and Control of Oil Spills, June 15-17, 1971. 



Hearings on Conventions and Amendments Relating to Pollution of the Sea 

 by Oil, before the Subcommittee on Oceans and International Environment of 

 the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, May 20, 

 1971. 



Zeldin, Audubon Black Paper No. 1—Oil Pollution, The Audubon Cause, 

 May 1971. 



Coan, Oil Pollution, in The Sierra Club Bulletin, March 1971. 



VI. Relationship Between Local Short-Term Uses of Man's Environment and 

 the Maintenance and Enhancement of Long-Term Productivity 



"Various aspects of these relationships already have been discussed in preced- 

 ing sections but several general points might be made in the form of recapitula- 

 tion. First, there seems no doubt that the proposed Convention will serve to 

 inhibit or bar the immediate, short-term use of the oceans for the dumping of 

 some substances. As a consequence, the parties to the Convention might suffer 

 some inconveniences or economic penalties either in processing their requests for 

 permits from national authorities or in pursuing alternate disposal methods in 

 cases where dumpings are proscribed. Moreover, as noted, where land disposal 

 is the only alternative the inability to employ the oceans could result in some 

 long-term degradation of the land environment although in some instances it 

 could indirectly foster reclamation. 



Within the U.S. there is much land that could be employed for the.se purposes 

 and, in time, the penalties associated with land di.sposal will be reduced through 

 advances in technology — including recycling. Also to offset those inconveniences 

 that occur, the proposed convention should help to arrest the long-term degrada- 

 tion of the marine environment that would occur if indiscriminate dumping were 

 allowed to continue both unabated and unregulated at increasing rates. 



