Yet, one thing that is wrong up here in Congress is we have no institional memory. I can see that occurring over in the other House: the length of service is being cut short, and similarly in this particular body. And we are repeating ourselves in a lot of these studies.

Tell us something about that computer-based management information system.

Dr. HESS. Yes, sir. We agree with you it is deeply needed. One of the problems we have right now is trying to find out all of the work that has been done in the Gulf of Mexico, to serve as a base for the comprehensive study we want to undertake starting next year.

The Smithsonian Institution has a start at this. They have a computer file where all Federal agencies are supposed to enter all of the ongoing projects. We don't think that that is complete, and we want to work with the Smithsonian to try to upgrade this and to check and make sure it is complete, coordinate it with the other agencies, to pull this all together. Until we do that

Senator HOLLINGS. You will coordinate with other agencies?

Dr. HESS. Yes, sir. Until we do that, we won't have a comprehensive understanding of those things that have been undertaken already, and therefore, as you suggest, we might do things that are duplicative. Senator HOLLINGS. Very good, sir.

Dr. HESS. With respect to the fiscal year 1980, our planning has just begun and we are unable to provide a useful estimate of the requirements at this time.

Our final decisions for fiscal year 1980 will depend on the outcome of the President's fiscal year 1979 budget requsets, and we recommend an authorization for fiscal year 1980 of such sums as may be

necessary.

Mr. Chairman, that completes my statement. I would be pleased to respond to any questions you might have.

Senator HOLLINGS. I appreciate that, Dr. Hess. I understand since 1975 there has been an interagency agreement between NOAA and EPA, and I would like you to please tell us what the agreement contains, how NOAA's fiscal year 1979 request is influenced by it, and what research results to date have helped EPA to improve its regulation of ocean dumping.

Dr. HESS. Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, we do have an agreement with EPA, which has been in place for several years. The purpose of that agreement is to coordinate the work that we do under section 201, of the Ocean Dumping Act, where we try to respond to needs that EPA has, studying the dumpsites which they consider to be the most significant problem areas, and characterizing them and understanding the processes going on at those dumpsites.

We have initiated studies at the deepwater dumpsite 106 and the Puerto Rico site in response to requests by EPA, stating those were the two highest priority dumpsites.

We are continuing that this year. The two new dumpsites in the Gulf of Mexico, which we are going to initiate, are ones which have been discussed with EPA and also with the Corps of Engineers, because they have a role in these two particular dumpsites, to make sure that these are also highest priority as in the other agencies.

Senator HOLLINGS. Why are particular projects selected, such as those in New York and the Gulf of Mexico? You devote half of your section 202 funds to research there. Why did you select those?

Dr. HESS. Going back to the New York Bight project, when we initiated that one, we considered that to be the body of water adjacent to the United States that had been most deeply challenged by man. Man was dumping a large fraction of the eastern urban wastes into that area, and there were signs that that body of water was becoming unhealthy.

We thought because of that, that was a logical place to start this kind of a program.

In response to the Gulf of Mexico question, the gulf is not yet challenged at that level. But there are signs it may not be in terribly good shape.

One of the poblems has to do with the fact that in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the oxygen levels are relatively low, not as low as we have experienced now off the coast of New Jersey, where we had a significant fishkill a year ago, but low enough to give us concern.

And we are not aware of continuing measurements of the oxygen in those deep waters, we don't know whether it is going down, we don't know whether man is playing any role in the oxygen depletion in that area. It is an area of concern.

Another point here is that the Mississippi River is dumping into the gulf something like a million pounds of organic chemicals per day. That amount of dumping must be doing something deleterious to the organisms in the gulf.

It is not really well understood, but something we feel really needs looking into.

Senator HOLLINGS. A million pounds of organic materials?

Dr. Hess. Organic chemicals, per day, coming out of the Mississippi River.

Senator HOLLINGS. I notice later that Mr. Kamlet, on behalf of the National Wildlife Federation, expresses concern that the ocean dumping research program of NOAA is divided between the National Ocean Survey, the Environmental Research Laboratories, and Fisheries.

Why are these three different groups involved, and what steps are you and Dr. Frank taking to coordinate the effort?

Dr. Hess. It is correct, sir, that the program is divided between those different organizations. Where we have a piece of work to be done, we try to do it in the part of the organization that has the greatest talent to carry that work out.

It does require central coordination at the top, and we are working on that coordination. We expect in the next year that we will have stronger coordination in place to carry this out. But there is now an office under the Assistant Administrator for R. & D. that has responsibility for seeing that these kinds of programs are coordinated between different parts of the organization.

Senator HOLLINGS. What do we know now, Dr. Hess, that we didn't know before from the research which has been done on ocean dumping? Dr. Hess. Looking at the New York Bight project over the last several years, I think we really understand something about the major stresses that are occurring in that area, and it is not what we had expected going in. We are now quite convinced that the major problem in that body of water is caused by the materials flowing out through

the Hudson River-Raritan Bay estuary system into the bight, and not materials that are being dumped into the bight deliberately by ship. That is not to say that the dumping is a good idea; it is still a problem, and we still support the efforts of EPA to stop ocean dumping of sewage sludge in 1981.

However, we are strongly of the opinion now that the major problem is not that ocean dumping, but the influx through the Hudson River system. That influx, a year ago, caused a substantial depletion of oxygen in the bottom waters off New Jersey and a resultant fishkill of substantial magnitude.

We now think we understand the basic process leading up to that, and we may have some predictive ability because of our measurements in this system.

That is to say, hopefully we would be able to point to some signs next time about such an event occurring. We don't know any way to prevent it at this time other than cleaning up the Hudson River estuarine system.

Another area I might point to is the fact that we now for the first time have what to us seems to be a good indicator of sewage sludge. People for years have tried to find some material, some chemical, that they could use to trace sludge. You go and pick up material near the beach and ask the question did this come from the dumpsite or not. We have identified over the last year or so a chemical called coprostenol, which we now feel is of specifically human in origin and not degradable and is specifically a way to tag this material, so we can now trace it through the water.

Senator HOLLINGS. Did we ever find those munitions vessels that were sunk off the New Jersey coast some years back? I remember in the study of proposed dumping of nerve gas it said that the Army had dumped some munitions, by just sinking two old LST's off the New Jersey coast, and that, when we went to find exactly the effect, we were unable to find the vessels.

Dr. Hess. I am sorry, Mr. Chairman, I don't know the answer to that. I will be happy to provide it for the record.

[The following information was subsequently received for the record.]

While there have been many scuttlings of U.S. liberty ships containing munitions along the Atlantic seaboard, only three contained toxic substances. Two of these there were sunk off the coast of New Jersey and the other about 200 miles due east of Daytona Beach. All three have subsequently been relocated and monitored for pollutant release during survey operations.

The two vessels sunk off the coast of New Jersey in 1967 and 1968 were the S.S. ERIC G. GIBSON, and the S.S. MORMACTERN. Both were carrying various nerve agents, mustard gas, cyanides and other various highly toxic substances. Since these scuttlings, these ships have been relocated and surveyed three times. The surveys included both a photographic reconnaissance as well as water sampling and analyses designed to detect any leakage of the nerve agents. All test results indicated no leakage of any nerve agents or other materials into the water column.

Senator HOLLINGS. In fact, there was dumping at the Blake Plateau, and I understand once that was sunk we couldn't find it to do the testing afterwards. Is that correct?

Dr. Hess. I will have to provide an answer on that for the record. [The following information was subsequently received for the record:]

The single vessel scuttled on the Blake Plateau was the liberty ship LE BARON RUSSELL BRIGGS. She was sunk in 1970 with a cargo of various nerve agents and other toxics. In subsequent years, the BRIGGS has been relocated and surveyed five times during which photographic, chemical, biological, geological and physical studies were done. Again, all test results indicate no leakage of any toxic substance into the water column.

Senator HOLLINGS. I have some other questions to submit to you, and I would appreciate it if you would answer them for the record. Dr. HESS. Yes, sir.

Senator HOLLINGS. Thank you.

[The statement follows:]

STATEMENT OF DR. WILMOT N. HESS, ACTING ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I appreciate this opportunity to appear before this Committee to discuss extension of appropriation authority for NOAA's programs under Title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972. Also, as requested by the Committee, I shall review some of the more significant findings from our studies to date.

Title II requires the Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with other concerned Federal agencies, to establish or support programs of scientific investigations related to marine pollution in three separate, yet related areas. Briefly stated these are: (1) a comprehensive and continuing program under Section 201 to study and monitor the effects of ocean dumping upon marine ecosystems; (2) a comprehensive and continuing program under Section 202 to assess the possible long-range effects of ocean pollution, overfishing, and other man-induced stresses on marine ecosystems; and (3) assistance under Section 203 to research activities exploring alternatives to ocean waste disposal. These responsibilities were delegated to NOAA; initial funding authority was set at $6,000,000 annually for fiscal years 1974 through 1976. Subsequent amending legislation authorized $5,600,000 for FY 77 and $6,500,000 for FY 78. The total FY 78 appropriation for Title II activities is $1,870,000, the entire amount being allocated to Section 201 program activities.

Funding will be required in FY 79 and FY 80 to support NOAA's ongoing program in response to Section 201 and the agency's planned programs under Section 202. No funds are being requested for Section 203 research on ocean dumping alternatives because it is more appropriately an EPA function. The Administration supports the reassignment of these responsibilities to EPA.

In FY 1979 the total appropriation for Title II research will increase substantially, provided the Congress acts favorably on the President's budget request. For that fiscal year the Administration is asking for an increase of $4,035,000 which, if approved, would make the total FY 79 appropriation $5,905,000. This is indeed a significant change in the funding picture for ocean pollution research. We consider it as further evidence of the Administration's commitment to improved management of the oceans and their valuable resources. I can assure you, Mr. Chairman, that NOAA management will be watching this program closely and will work hard to see that NOAA meets these additional responsibilities.

I will now review some of the results of our work to date and our plans regarding Title II research in FY 79.

SECTION 201

As the Committee is aware, NOAA's ocean dumping research effort was not initiated under Section 201, but as part of the Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) Program's New York Bight Project. The MESA Project was planned in 1972 and was funded in FY 73 under a separate line item in the NOAA budget. The agency has taken the position that the MESA work on ocean dumping, although never funded under Title II, was fully responsive to the concerns of the Congress as expressed in that legislation. It was largely for this reason that the Administration deferred seeking funds to establish another ocean dumping research program under Section 201 until FY 77.

MESA field investigations focusing on the sewage sludge dumping problem in the New York Bight began in mid-1973 and have continued to the present time. The major thrust of these scientific efforts has been directed toward ascertaining the effects of existing ocean dumping practices and investigating the ecosystem in and around the present dumpsites as well as the proposed alternative sewage sludge sites.

Some of the more significant scientific findings from the MESA Project are as follows:

In the New York Bight, contaminants from the Hudson-Raritan estuaries are of far greater significance than contaminants introduced into the Bight from barge dumping of sewage sludge and dredged material.

Grease, tar, and floating trash that severely contaminated the southern beaches of Long Island in 1976 came primarily from these estuarine systems. Nutrient-laden waters of these estuaries flow southwardly along the New Jersey coast and are the major contributors to depressed oxygen levels in bottom waters and fish kills when low oxygen levels are combined with other (primarily meteorological) factors.

PCBs or polychlorinated biphenyls are a group of persistent synthetic compounds that are highly toxic to certain marine organisms. These compounds are found in dumped sewage sludge and, to a lesser extent, dredged material.

The dumping of sewage sudge in the Bight has not resulted, as had been speculated, in the formation of a massive lens of material which moves shoreward along the bottom, rather the material seems to disperse with the solid portions settling to the bottom and accumulating in topographic depressions, where hydraulic activity is at a minimum.

The impacts of pollutants in the Bight Apex are great. The Apex, which is that portion of the Bight in closest proximinity to the metropolitan area, appears to be a mixing bowl for many types of pollutants from various sources and the relative significance of any particular source is difficult to distinguish. Until adequate land-based waste disposal alternatives are available, it is probably best to continue to use this already heavily stressed area as a dumping ground, rather than contaminate a new area in the Bight.

The Project Development Plan calls for completion of the regional study of the New York Bight in FY 1981. This planning decision was made several years ago, and is not related to the fact that the Congress recently passed legislation requiring the cessation or sewage sludge dumping by the end of CY 1981. I would point out that investigations of the effects of ocean dumping were only one facet of the comprehensive environmental investigations of the New York Bight. These studies have provided the necessary background information to initiate a program of monitoring the environmental conditions in the Bight, and were used in the development of other similar NOAA ecosystem investigations of presently or potentially stressed marine areas of the United States. Critical studies related to the regional problems of the New York Bight that remain to be addressed following the 1981 termination of the New York Bight Project along with other recommendations for sound environmental management of the New York Bight region will be developed during the next twelve months.

In FY 77 the first appropriation under Title II was approved to establish the NOAA Ocean Dumping Program. Management of the program was assigned to NOAA's National Ocean Survey. Its mission is to carry out the purposes of Section 201, including support of EPA and the Corps of Engineers in the discharge of their respective functions under Title I of the Act. In FY 78 the appropriation is $1,870,000 which is being used to continue a comprehensive study of Deepwater Dumpsite 106, initiate a study of the Puerto Rico industrial waste dumpsite, and to complete work begun a year earlier at a Gulf of Mexico industrial waste dumpsite.

At DWD-106, the program has developed knowledge of how waste material behaves in the deeper ocean, its rate of vertical and horizontal mixing and dilution, its chemical interactions and alterations, and its effect on marine life. Our findings show that southwest migrating Gulf Stream eddies frequently traverse DWD-106. These large eddies, generally about 100 km in diameter, envelop the dumpsite within their boundaries as they move, entraining any waste materials present for about 30 days. Regardless of the presence or absence of Gulf Stream eddies, the expected course of waters containing waste materials is toward the southwest, along the depth contours of the continental slope.