Governors Call for Stiff Ocean Dumping Laws

Nine northeastern governors called on state and federal officials Friday to enact stiff laws banning the dumping of sewage and medical waste in the Atlantic Ocean.

“Rapid and effective action must be taken before further degradation of the marine environment occurs,” said the resolution adopted unanimously by the Coalition of Northeastern Governors.

The governors met in Pittsburgh to discuss several economic-development issues, but ocean dumping dominated the conference.

“Right now, the dumping is legal,” said Maine Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. “We have no jurisdiction in the states that are dumping in the ocean.”

Rhode Island Gov. Edward D. DiPrete noted a decline in the number of fish along the northeastern coast and urged immediate action to stop the ocean pollution.

“Protection of our coastal and ocean waters should be one of the nation’s highest priorities,” DiPrete said. “The disposal of waste materials through dumping in coastal waters can cause significant degradation of the marine environment.”

Connecticut Gov. William A. O’Neill said the federal government must act to ban the now-legal dumping of sewage sludge and other waste far off shore. He cited New York City and numerous New Jersey municipalities that dump treated sludge 106 miles off the coast of Cape May, N.J.

New Jersey recently enacted legislation that will ban such dumping by 1991.

O’Neill also called for tighter controls of the disposal of medical waste, which has fouled beaches in numerous states including New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island.