Whereas, there is a genuine need for improvement in the technology of solid waste management, as well as application of proven effective waste management procedures: Therefore, be it Resolved, that the Conference of State Sanitary Engineers request the Congress to consider amending the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize the awarding of demonstration project grants to encourage and support demonstrations of existing solid waste management procedures in geographical areas and under operating conditions in which such procedures have not previously been attempted, so as to add much-needed information which could promptly be applied to help meet the national solid waste management problem. FRANK P. WRIGHT & ASSOCIATES, Re comments on S. 3400. Senator EDMUND S. MUSKIE, New Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. (Attention of Mr. Leon G. Billings). GENTLEMEN: May I respectfully submit to you my observations on Bill S. 3400, introduced by Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois. In the beginning, let me state that I support this bill, and my only criticism of it is that I do not believe that it is broad enough or strong enough, for, as I will state later, I think that we are on the verge of reaching full understanding of the problems of environmental contamination which may prove to be one of the most important advances of our time, far overshadowing the more dramatic programs now sponsored by the federal government. The magnitude of what our President and Senator Douglas have proposed may not be fully appreciated in this decade, but it may well be an act that history will remember with gratitude. I became aware of this problem in the early days of World War II, when, as a member of the Ordnance Department in Birmingham, Alabama, I was asked to serve on the scrap metal collection committee of that city. Being somewhat sensitive to air pollution, I was impressed by the seemingly senseless waste of our invested natural resources and the terrible pollution of the atmosphere, our streams, and the land itself. After the war was over, I began to work to find out for my own benefit if there was a reasonable answer to these problems. Over these past twenty years, I have spent a small fortune and thousands of hours of research work, both my own and that of other engineers employed by me, on a broad base program for the elimination of environmental contamination, and as an engineer, have been responsible for a number of advanced machines for the processing of scrap metal. In the past five to eight years, our work has shown that environmental contamination, both air and water, is the result of a senseless waste of valuable raw materials that can be recycled at great profit back into the economy of our country. Of the total problem, the junked automobile is really a minor part, and offers the simplest solution. The total problem includes the reuse of city garbage, industrial wastes and litter found alongside our nation's highways. To do this requires no great technological breakthrough, because the technology of how to do this exists today. It will require the support of the federal government to start the machinery turning and a firm supporting hand until sufficient momentum is gained for private industry to take over. To answer critics who might complain that this is just another government subsidy and that it interferes with private enterprise and establishes another unwanted bureau, let me remind them that all great economic changes since the beginning of time have been essentially subsidized by governments. I have heard no complaints about the fact that Christopher Columbus himself received a subsidy from a head of state. Nor do I hear people complaining that our aircraft industry and systems had their fledgling wings firmly supported by government subsidies in their infancy. For some reason, the terrible consequences of federal support of new ideas that were predicted when I was a young man in the mid 1930s do not seem to have materialized. I therefore urge that the committee consider that a new technology to recycle our invested resources will bring great and lasting benefit to our nation. To put such a program into effect will require from three to five percent of our total population, and will be the greatest single blow at poverty we can achieve by creating thou sands of new job opportunities. It will eliminate forever the city dump and the roadside junk yard, and the piles of refuse alongside our highways. By placing value on this refuse, the pressure of good, sound economics will cause it to disappear. After two decades, I have stopped using the word "waste", for the material itself is not waste. It is simply our inability to recognize its value to which the word "waste" really applies. I prefer to call this material invested resources, for, in effect, this is precisely what they are. These materials have had great quantities of other irreplaceable natural resources invested in them to produce a technical level of excellence as a material. The simple fact that the mechanical function has ceased does not in any way affect the quality of the material which is as fine as it was the day it emerged from the factory. The original cost of refining has already been borne by the consumer. This investment offers to our economy a subsidized raw material. Our great nation grew from the vast deposits of natural resources unmatched anywhere on earth. The great industries of our nation, to whom we owe a lasting debt, developed processes that sped the unrefined resources through the mills in a never ending stream to pour out on our land and into the world into the tens of thousands of items that contribute to our present civilization. However, American industry, particularly the American steel industry, made little provision in its overall scheme of its production facilities to reuse any of the material that it produced, once its mechanical life had ceased. There are two very significant reasons why this was not done. It is economically impractical for the large monolithic unidirectional mills to use two very dissimilar raw materials. Secondly, scrap metal, particularly that of the automobile, becomes widely distributed by civilization, and is not found in the high concentrations as is ore. The problem of collecting this material becomes difficult logistically, and transportation costs, digging deeply into sale prices, eroded away profits on which the scrap industry must depend. Of course, in the case of the lighter body steels that we are concerned with, the problem was magnified. Efforts to overcome the disadvantages of the light material by the use of powerful baling presses gave life to the industry for a short time. But the vital elements of life itself were missing from this industry, and it gradually died, leaving the problem we see today. The recycling of automobile steel did not break down; it simply never existed as an important industry. Again, this has nothing to do with the importance of this material to the future of our country. Essentially, it is the finest raw material available anywhere in the world in commercial quantities. Properly prepared, it represents the greatest source of high purity iron in the world today. Latent within every junk yard in our nation is a partial solution to our frustrating problems of unemployment. We should consider the potential of ready world markets for new and specialized steels that are purchased on the basis of their properties rather than their prices, bringing relief to our balance of payments headache, and most important, giving this country the security of being able to be independent within its own borders by learning to recycle its invested resources. It is well worth noting here that a large percent of our better iron ore now comes from other countries where recent history teaches us that the rising wave of nationalism may induce these countries to profit from their own natural resources by converting them into finished goods within their own borders, thus diminishing a ready supply of raw materials to our country. This, of course, was what made our country great, and we may expect other countries will follow our example. The solution to the junked automobile problem, as well as the solution to other environmental contamination, depends upon the theory that markets must be developed to absorb them as raw material. These markets do not exist in our country at this time as, of course, they did in both Germany and Japan during World War II. The ability to recycle their important resources enabled Germany and Japan to hold off half the world in World War II for a longer period of time than would otherwise have been possible. And I am sure that there are many people who remember vividly our own struggle to develop this technology for ourselves during this conflict. There is no great technological breakthrough necessary, however, to bring about markets for these materials, for latently, they do exist. This new industry will in no way be in competition with any existing industry in the United States today, but will simply augment our present industry, and expand our economy in the vacuum where most unemployment now exists. From a metallurgical standpoint, the new low frequency induction furnaces that will convert the very high quality irons in the automobile body directly into high quality, fine grain, fatigue resisting steels, are available in Europe at this time, and through one very fine manufacturer in this country. Tremendous progress has been made in preparation equipment in our own country, and my company has developed the incinerators necessary to clean the material and to eliminate any contamination that may be released to the atmosphere. Existing now is the full technology of how to place into effect a complete program of resource recycling, and before the turn of the century, the problem will metamorphose into a great and profitable industry in our land. I urge the committee to consider the latent value of this problem, and by approving a strong bill, enabling our President to act, will expand a highly profitable field of technology that will rival in size and benefit to our nation our space program or the development of atomic energy. Thank you. Yours very truly, FRANK P. WRIGHT. Re S. 3400. NATIONAL AUTO & TRUCK WRECKERS ASSOCIATION, INC., Hon. EDMUND S. MUSKIE, Chairman, Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution, Committee on Public Works, U.S. Senate, Room 4204, New Senate Office Building, Washington D.C. DEAR SENATOR MUSKIE: In lieu of testifying at the hearings on S. 3400 which we understand are scheduled to be held by your Subcommittee on June 15, 1966, the National Auto and Truck Wreckers Association would like to take this opportunity to advise you of our comments on Senator Douglas' bill. As the national trade association representing the auto and truck salvage industry, NATWA has a vital interest in the growing accumulation of junk automobiles in this country. In this connection, NATWA is pleased to advise you that we are in full and complete accord with the provisions of S. 3400 which would divert the 1% excise tax on new automobiles for use in disposing of junked automobiles. When President Johnson signed the excise tax revision bill into law last year, he stated that he hoped that some of the revenue of the 1% permanent excise tax on automobiles could be used for meeting the problem of the old and useless automotive scrap heap. We agreed with President Johnson at that time, and we agree with Senator Douglas' approach to the problem at this time. The proposed bill is based on the understanding that the question of disposing of automobiles is an economic one. The demand for scrap steel made from old cars has declined in recent years. The price of scrap has fallen to a level where it does not always cover the cost of converting an old car into usable scrap. It has now become cheaper in many parts of the country to let the old automobile rust away on a junk heap or leave it on a highway or street. Every ton of scrap used in making new steel saves three tons of valuable raw material such as iron ore, coke and limestone. Thus, it is very important to the economy of this country that steps be taken to insure that junked automobiles eventually end up as scrap used in the making of new steel. NATWA feels that S. 3400 is a logical attempt to meet this problem by providing financing to help facilitate the processing of old cars into scrap. In addition, we applaud those provisions of this bill which provide financing for research to find other solutions to this vexing problem. NATWA respectfully requests that the comments contained in this letter be made a part of your Subcommittee's records on the hearings on S. 3400 and that your Subcommittee give favorable consideration this bill. Respectfully submitted. RAYMOND E. MORRIS, Managing Director. SPORT FISHING INSTITUTE, Washington, D.C., March 25, 1966. Mr. RICHARD B. ROYCE, Senate Public Works Committee, New Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. ROYCE: I was in contact with Senator Douglas' legislative council, Mr. Gleason, on March 23, 1966 with regard to progress in eliminating some of the solid wastes covering the American countryside. In conformance with the President's wishes on Natural Beauty may I suggest a helpful means of disposing of substantial numbers of old auto bodies cluttering the countryside and many junk yards throughout this nation. My proposal would have the added feature of utilizing this embarassing solid waste in a manner that would generate substantial conservation benefits. I understand that a bill is under way, not yet introduced, from your office that would provide means and funds for disposal of solid wastes. You may be aware of some of the successes that a few of our coastal states have had in creating better fish habitat and increased production through construction of artificial fishing reefs using old junked auto bodies in coastal waters. The life of auto bodies in the ocean is from three to five years at best, so that there is a natural maintenance (replacement) requirement that would consume large numbers of units annually. The chief reason why agencies are not already deeply involved is that they do not have the funds to meet the additional expense. A waste disposal act which would provide federal funds (approximately $200,000 per state is needed-a total of $4,600,000 if all 23 states with coasts were included) from the automobile excise taxes could be a great boost not only toward ridding the countryside of the unsightly auto junk yards, but by providing an outlet for a most beneficial use. At an average cost of $30 per auto body unit acquired and emplaced on the ocean floor over 150,000 old autos could be beneficially utilized each year in an official fishing reef program. A federal aid in fish restoration mechanism (64 Stat. 430, as amended) already exists for administration of such funds as might be allocated for such purpose. I invite your attention to our SFI Bulletin for January, 1966, enclosed, entitled "Artificial Reefs as Tools of Sport Fishery Management in Coastal Marine Waters." 1 You will note that the entire 8-page issue is concerned with artificial reefs and their effects on the marine fishery populations and fishing success by the sport fishermen. I am confident that you will find this information will illustrate the potential involved. If we can be of further assistance in helping to provide language for a suggested amendment or actual inclusion in the first draft of the solid waste disposal bill please do not hesitate to call on us. Sincerely, PHILIP A. DOUGLAS, Executive Secretary. INSTITUTE OF SCRAP IRON & STEEL, INC., Senator PAUL H. DOUGLAS, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR DOUGLAS: As a Scrap Processor I have been disposing of junked autos since the Model T. It is natural for me to resent the "Deep-six Syndrome", those who suggest burial . . . in the ocean, under sand-dunes or in abandoned mine shafts. Our own Institute of Scrap Iron & Steel, (headquarters in Washington), can furnish your Committee much more accurate statistics than your "recent study." We can add a more significant fact; 100% of all junked cars that find their way into a Scrap Processor plant DO "find their way into a steel furnace". This suggests a solution. Rather than subsidize the freighting of junked cars to the nearest seaport (freight alone: from $6 to $20 each), pay the auto graveyard owner for their movement into the nearest Scrap Processor yard. We'll see they reach a steel mill. The low value for scrap is going to make transportation of the bulky auto body the major deterrent to orderly disposal for years to come. This then is the vital area that demands studied consideration. Sincerely, LEO J. KELLEHER, National Director. 1 The exhibit may be found in the appendix of this record. (See p. 407.) 64-886-66- -25 Senator EDMUND S. MUSKIE, SOLID WASTE GENERAL CORP. OF AMERICA, DEAR SENATOR MUSKIE: On request of Solid Waste General Corporation of America, enclosed is a copy of an original draft of the information sheet for a proposal made to the City of Los Angeles by Adlen Brothers Auto Wrecking, a subsidiary of Solid Waste General Corporation of America.1 The information contained in said draft will be of help in your above-captioned hearings, currently being conducted. The proposal itself has been lodged with the City of Los Angeles and a copy can be obtained from Dr. Piper, City Administrator, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Hall, Los Angeles, California, or we can supply a copy of said proposal on your request. We respectfully request that the information sheet be put into the congressional record as part of your Committee's findings. If we can be of any further help to you, please do not hesitate to call. ADLEN & CASSELMAN, Counsel for Solid Waste General Corp. of America. Senator JENNINGS RANDOLPH, Chairman, Public Works Committee, Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON STATE AUTO WRECKERS, DEAR SENATOR RANDOLPH: We oppose Senate bill 3400 amending the Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965, which would delegate regulatory authority to the President. Control by Congress gives us a fairer and more enlightened consideration of those matters pertaining to government regulation of our business. A regulatory board to include members of the auto wrecking industry and scrap metal dealers in proper proportions would be, in our opinion, superior to executive control. We further protest blanket legislation that makes no distinction between auto wreckers dealing in salvaged used automobile parts and scrap or junk dealers. The former group are engaged in a business activity that is essential to the repair of used motor vehicles. Millions of additional automobiles would be sent to the scrap heap each year were it not for the less expensive used motors, transmissions, body sections and other parts, made available by this source. Without these, the costs of new replacements would be prohibitive and new and additional junk yards would flourish. New methods of processing and utilizing scrap metal are being developed which will eventually solve this problem without government expense or regulations. Reference is made to the June 18, 1966, issue of Business Week which carried an article on this subject entitled "Better Diet for Oxygen Steelmakers." It is our opinion that extinguishing all scrap from side trails and country roads is causing an excessive stress to be laid on aesthetics. History has shown that scrap reserves have been most helpful in times of national emergencies as experienced in the last two World Wars. Junked vehicles may be unsightly but they are not a fire hazard or otherwise dangerous. They do not attract flies, rodents or other pests nor are they unsanitary. If they are screened or removed from our major interstate highways, beautification should be adequately served at least as a first step in this direction. We respectfully submit that the present law is superior to that which is being proposed by Senator Douglas in this amendment. Very truly yours, WASHINGTON AUTO WRECKERS ASSOCIATION, By DOLPH SPALDING. 1 The exhibit submitted appears in the appendix to this record. |