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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL : m* H.I.. I--*r. Mir Mm *|(T * enilli October 2, 1973 fmtratu how limit,, kirawtodf. u sbMt pblu Uc. of the mo. ud. u l. m. MprtahM f* Bohind tha Indifference and unawareneat of science, conflicts crop up between the result 'af'imie and many governments Ilea the of separate Investigations. In the oeean-peilu Is'EnormOus 'Hitttt, 'enodt unfathomable difficulty: a great gap In |ion Bold, though, the Ashea tan ba high, t aeleptlfter knowledge about poUulion of the donnytrook ef major preporttana la growhq BmWPeop^?e,ft' iVM * I,. A gush of research teUtemig eUapiUs of [around quntlonp about the leefrango ffwl o E000 barely has begun do. lap fhnjtfround- till in the oeoane. ITie potreloum Industr for deendae of etudy needed before people Vrguen that eg'^tegradeo, or breaks dawn btoi cad knyw guat.prhat pollutant* pro Lq the teong. lcalty, hi the sea and therefore Isn't harrafu how much therq tool thp[, where they go once for Vdry long. Other reeearchere, with evtdenc Scjlintjfic I: UnperMir# ;^dds Tfai Che Problem; `Bijsin^ss as Dsual, IPendiiiJ Annihilation' '* ' I t i -.-`.I I w`i. m DaihgercAis II& Oil Slick? there and what effect they eventually will have .;r: W "Despite Inroad fehefnfyfpnoenatSi about the jHmtanlnant|l|piild evrunt 4he, grealeel threat qt global pollution." aaya Robert M. White, head of the National Oceanic pad Atphsrlc Amlni^etibri,,.',knowlf<te* pf thalr to the oontrary. iky damage frtm a dtitgje oi eplll ban be feR for decodes. Max Blumor. a senior `Mlentlst at Wood |/IolA B conducting aa exhaaatlve Andy of tin leffeete of a relatively amah oil spill thA tool {place la Capa' Ood'e Bussard'a Bay in Soptem [tier 1944. Long after the visible presence ef pt Jias gone, small amounts are persisting In < extent their /ate apd tfetir Impbet.on the surprisingly wide area around tha Ala of th> *#! If * te *1 * teneocpyatereJeacnatyatboaLT, ,,, . Vhat.ia known la that in the moat Interne in* l>0>'.(98y Bannv Nwma-si* >* V. reUgcee of oontamlnatlon around comtat areaa. |Mf Srjsrtrr a/ TNK WAU. STRUT JOURNAL ffihl lul pollution. T 1 ''! 'Lid to* seep into public dnfcsc/ouanbaei laa* to wUreeted to the rule or lowliest td tje ana* IpolhiUon URaV^Tfie evhliaeeSI claid'enough I from the quick death of marine VUe after larger oil splits, the fact that 00% of thU country'i lysed! by edencs. , k _`'.y , dam and oyetar boda are /ouled -by,,human waatea. and tha near absence ef fife jn^hprbore pUK Among Mr. Blumer's oeneluato to dnt> Is that "oil degrades Aowly bnly in marine ee yimeots."and it may be completely stable enm 4t is taken up by orfanmna." * Extremely low conoentrat lone of oil ant other poitatants may have "serlouely dameg 'Ing Moldglcal eftacta." Mr. Blumer warns adding that "our general Ignorance" of tha do B te the ImI pollution because It la Into the lken by a pahoply of pyilutente. u h tails Isn't an excuse "for complacency If sue* roeeanapthe ultimate sewer-thA .ill U wastes of man that aren't piled'ePMmrwti on land must find Uwlr way. And it li the IfA pA* The body of knowledge la mrowlng steadily, effects aren't immediately obvious ingress ob fad by platoons of edontlete ft dosons of govnervations of polluted areas." - ernment, university and Industry laboratories. With its own army A petroleum cbomtote lutlon beteuee V tha oceana-source of nd But evory new revelation aaoffts td open d Pan the qS industry is squaring off agalnA Uto son oxygon--hr* poisoned, lift on earth aa wa know dora's box of questions and cofltradlctHtna. clustoM of tha Woods Hols Audy. "OH la mesa) It oannot vo on. '/'*<' **^ 1 given basic atatlatloa aa {the amount of oil and \lgly un(1 goto on people's feet.'' says Arm Vw enormity of the prospeetha* lad name entering the eqa via splits have qarled ydldly. Oabrud, -dtreeter of environmentA affairs foi to etaiemonia Ilka thoaa: ^` Now thooo unreliable eiUmalga aqe thepnaelvee the American petroleum Institute, "hut It's no Ian. Brea* P. HoUtnge: "We. art kUUnc the being upset by fresh suggestions that a hugs grant eeanna ai thla planet, and uniaaa wa atop 'percentage of oil pollution feetffce not from spills but from airborne antl-exhahst emissions where new as Insidious as ocean dumping w garbage or-heavy metsis. or so eerie-- wa U Justify Interminable delays In needed1 project* TWa la thejourlli of secri^o/ o^fiolat drifting to theweean surface. Herd agathr. there like the Alaska pipeline." ' aren't any numbers to trust.^ The beet esti The Institute le spending tMO,000 a year thla madness. mankind ttaelf may pariah from the . ffcee of thla earth; And that would ha tha irony of all irentss-mah having evolved from tha^oooann. only to. dla bacausq ge haa kUlod mates. aaya Mr. White, "are still tenuous," Its UMqMlous Chemicals Breakthroughs are being niaqe rns- eovery ef new forma of polhitioq (pr basi.tb sea. Tha most moinmto. booh that a oil-poUutloa research. It has financed a study still unpublished, that Mr. Oabrud aaya wll show that marine animals contaminated by A "cleanse themselves" when placed la Abii water. Mr. Blumer doesn't doubt the findings theivery afuree af U ltts.| Imd inoquaa Cousteau, spaas. enplerer: MI think If hothlnf waa dana today, dnaypha . 40 or 00 ytara would ba (ha and of everything." - ThqM^fcre momsnteus praMftUpimVTet the aoothaaytM are be^g ahunted aaMa^hy govern mental unoeneare, puMte unawarefibre and del* enliflo unafftalnty^eyor Uiair f0a*#eAjons. chemical family called Delj{m|||||^g||^nyla, used In paints, inkr and plsatiea. an We found In virtually every organism In the North and South Atlantic, at daptha up to 11,000 foot But how these chemicals--M well m plcdie partlclea and the propellants In serosal eanshave baeome to widespread ie^s myeter^. Hbw dangerous they are. In small dosaa orer IBs He only asks that they be "placed belofo tin scientific public'' for scrutiny. Other scientists, however, complain A fool Ing pressured by the Industry's public-relaUsm front. "You can really catch hell trying to pub {llah paper on petroleum In'the sea." says an other Woods Hole scientist. "They try to don} everything you eay. stuck your analytics Ihnring the Bichee Jong run. Is another enigma^ (In large doses methods and completely dleoredlt you" 1 There te a "brick wall af JiMHffbrenct" ter ethep can .change behavior and reproductive^w Nevertheless, the U l. Congress has taker ward ecp\ pollution at meetings leading to n>attorna lh;Uia qpfne manner as DDT. qn<dhe^ steps to curb the most obvious oil spills. Logie the coming United tyatJOM-apfMored La* of mliqosl universal oontamlnant MonasnloH Vhe.r lotion applying to alt the nation's waterway* the Sea Conference, says John Hussey, an ex Konly U 8. producer, has slopped making the po-yt went lntd effect In t479 outlawing any spill that port on the Senate temneice Oommlttee Aiif. riychlorlndtddmpAlnyla.) *( ^ * 1 ai forme a visible sheen on the water. Civil penal "Everybody want# to:share In the riches of lb* ^ Boetwlek }t|t'6hum. Associate Director' of k.uv" * W.i "iMrln* prWctton ( Mn reeowreea oif in a corner." , The public aeema unaware of ocean-pollu tion laauea. dtfqpfte'the itpwelllng of tntereet after a fewdrkmetle btl epllle. Organised envl- ronmentalBU have taken until thte suihAsr to addroee the problem, in tne form of a lam-min the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, adds that "a variety of synthetic organic chem icals, including -other pesticides, detergents ang pharmaceuticals are also undoubtedly reaohing the marina onvtronmaat with Unpack that si* virtually unknown." * . .. : ute Sierra Club attempt to Influence the Law of ' Scientific edqigni are sometimes softening ?':r rthe Sea talke. < >i 'U' eatwer Ivan of oqsqa hssards. Not long ago. It was thought thaV|he crown-of-tboyns starfish (wad destroying oqral roofs bocauoo af some Bit.?* aaya Oene Coan.thsJterra Club dffldal Induced perversion. Now, evtdenoo iadl- 'directing the effort, "fcoean jtollution la tough the starfish's unfortunate appetite la a C get hoM 9i fi |p gRpcitr oMnlgAtiide *** I oM^^Mareury oontamlnatt^i was be ties were provided and s hind of public men*} established for cleaning up spills when Umsi responsible can't bo found. The resuite appar `ently have been substantia). "1 used to bo abb | to go up Arthur Kill and see an oil MIek aimoe I any time." Richard Dewtlng. an Environmen I tel Protection Agency eurvelUance director aye of a notorious New Jersey estuary. " can't do that any more." > Father legislation calls for new safety elan dards In tanker construction and e harbor traf fio oentrol qyetem. Solid waste also has eom under federal supervision with s itta law sat ting up permit system for ocean dumping. Vbfnplteattd man any pollution problem con fined to national boundaries." ts ba a great modern threat until the lonUue Institution found comparably Ngh ( of the motel <n Ml that bad Bdan pre- MOMS 064720 I served for thousands of years. v. ^ Page 2 Bthtrearedraercegplorogboleamesc.foBremermtroennm etnfwuiiadts*1 ,'** VmuT and the died has impeuMatf Mode another adatf.loXmprovewtaaalag of Murt*I a edt.>T$hiwk*y';for eleaMMf * Mg jvHb remafosbackward- (At August hearings- m lip prighood million refinery on me Maine eeeot, Phteion Oe. admitted aepttl % * Vour-knot ottrredl couldn't be cqtotaine^.y ** * Perhapath* /eoet tolling problem,'thougfc, is till too (Dll dUt|ii|ulih pollution from 'the arth'B.pthgr environmental Ills: Pollution of the m k on International p)ieiu>mhnwa't^*t eon never bn edntroltrfd by the lows of a etagie notion, no matter bow forceful jbey |^i,a "Refuse dumped I4el4e tk* Peniyfot) terrl* torliJ Water*, equals refuae dumped around the khorao of Pelymaio," Thor Hajeratld, thp on* IbropolofM, told o denote committee altar teeing globe of oil throughout hit drift oaroat the Atlantic Ip a read boot "Refute dumped In* sldethe Moroccan ttrrllorltl watera equaie re* foes dumped tnalde the Caribbean tea." International' oontrolt plainly are the only meant to deaf wttJi the problem becauee "terrl- torlal" eeqa ,-are perpetually mining. The threat, moreover, con only grow worse ** oil ehipmedta multiply and offthore development of seperpcrte and refineries beeomn a reality. There Already are a few controls, among them three JniemeUonai cooventhme dealing ; with prevention of oil pollution from'tankers I and liability for spin damage. CTltice Including) the ftierta dub attach them at unonfosoeable. Lest November, el nattone eadoraej) Interna tional .qoptrels ever ocean dumping by. ehtpe and aircraft. The rules are ttronger than dumping-legislation adopted In'the U.9.. but. they don't touch el all en quartIona ol land*1 source poHuflon. - 1 . It rvmaJne fbr the Law of the Sea Confer* I ence, convening in New York la November and I then fn `Santiago next May, to draft genuine international ooean*po)luUon controls. Tet the I prospect* seem dim. "It la as thouth ecology.. , and Stockholm Hlhe UN Conference on the Hu* j men Indreptal of last yepr) had never hap* ` pened," iiytgrlu Jdwisen. a British authority on international law.**?t look* Ilka business ae usual, pending annihilation.*' .. At thla fthgej, the conference seems unlikely to create an Independent pollution regulatory authority, provide any signtnesai enforcement capeblltty or Impose any oonirota over ocean ( peliulloh that originates on land. In the fteweet] and potentially most eompetltive area of deep*1 oca mining, the conference Isn't expected to aak for "impact statements'.' or to separate the agency that will encourage mining from the one that will regulate it. rffigSterra Cub ts outraged at the situation, the mining Issue, Urn elao malnlatae. the feippM.^^thror SfUT-Rtv* chance to cssd caUttensly Vetora -nag-daviroamentai edtfk'4s,`'4Hi'*' Cbmpanles mcat on mining beaked, wu-th* other hand, hre Itching to I Inflet damage won't result a what tWplen tods,-Perhaps they're it, but the mentis! tfr j^lutlen' by deep* mlnlag-wmeh baa neves hqen attempted a `Jrand scdp--is subktastfeUy a scientific nowa. Nobody hao proven that U might be mflU, and uftdl thdfp Is don*. It sscqts unlike|[ly that an International conference worried out commercial eoneiderations end miner-. i Ahortages will endorse tough rules to con* 1 11* \y j? - As with pollution by o| umd piastre and eolM wastes, tfte issuq .of ttbftnf pollution Is ; again hamstrung by the*dearth of fundamental { .scientific knoWJedge.jTjM i^fot vf all these proMeme is that we don't even know what to! .predict will happen In a ftattrs), ocean environmeat, much lese in a polletod-enel" aaye Rich*! 'ard McGratl, d young mkrtes Mologtst.r ! Mr. McGrath le one of the legion ef scien tists doing the tedious work ofgathering "base* line" Information about Uq ehoracter of the sea. He is working oa oneemaU project for the National Oceanic and Atmbspberic Administra tion. Hts job la to find eutwhnt < alive at the bottom of Raritan Bay, hjHiaagular tunnel through which pollution from the factories and refineries that dot the shores of Mew Jersey's Arthur Kill pours Into thcAiiantic. On his BOth excursion^ Ig^nlbe months, the waters of Raritan Bay are smooth and greengray aa the oceanographic agency'# converted Army tugboat glides through the garbage at the leading edge of NeW> York harbor's ebb itlde. For seven hours under a sisamy sun. Mr. ^McGrath and several college-student helpers grab samples of the Mack, oily much from the ,bottom of the bay lb the Jaws of a email, spring-operated dredge. Bash sample le sieved, and each living worm, ftlam. and crustacean ts saved la a bottle. ;m . Back at a laboratory on New Jersey's Sandy Week, evory aalmal'In every sample will be picked out, Identified and counted. It can take one researcher two weeks- to finirfh work on a ingle bottle, the purpose le to provide some touchstone for future measurements of the offsets, of pollution Jn the bpr and efforts to ( "After a while, every sperm begins to look tho same." says Barry Trotsky, one of the stu dent aides. "It Isn't the ktad of work you dream ef when you hoar the word oceanogray,' end it may take 94 year* for the results to C. appreciated or understood. But It's the work that bee to be done." MONS 064721