But some time has evolved since then, and there have been great advances in technology. Is it your contention that you can't build a refinery that is clean! Mr. BORRELLI. I think the evidence at this point shows that the real risk to Machiasport and the entire Maine coast is not the refineries themselves, though this is a consideration; this is one of the things that has to be balanced and considered. The greatest danger, as Dr. Dean and others have indicated this morning, is that regrettable human error that would result in a massive tragedy, and every indication indicates that that tragedy would be multiplied to proportions heretofore unimaginable, because of natural conditions, tidal conditions, just the general geography of the area; that the refinery itself does not pose the major threat; the major threat remains to be getting the oil to port. This is where most of the major accidents have occurred. It has not been in port, accidents that have resulted in tragedies such as Santa Barbara, Torrey Canyon. Senator BOGGS. I understand. I agree. There have been great advances made in technology. I know that the refinery in Delaware has, over the years, utilized new technologies with great pride and benefit to the public. You also mentioned the fact that we in the Delaware Bay area are considering construction of an artificial island port for unloading the big, modern tankers, running a pipeline from there to the shore. The Governor has placed that proposal under a moratorium, while a detailed coastal study is carried out. Mr. BORRELLI. Senator, your State has what the State of Maine does not have, in the Delaware River Basin Commission-a very tight planning and process of deliberation that we are going through right now, on a personal basis-paid officials who are able to look into these economic, industrial questions, from a regional standpoint, and from an environmental standpoint. As you saw this morning, there is certainly no planning going on at this level. Washington County has no plan. Senator BOGGS. You know that Delaware River Basin Authority is a four-State authority. It has been mentioned before our committee. Senator MUSKIE. This committee created it Senator BOGGS. Its necessary compact had to be approved by this committee. It has moved along slowly, but I think it has been very helpful. Thank you. Mr. HARRISON. May I just add this word? I recognize that you are trying to balance a lot of things, and that you are more vigorously, you know, taking the opposition, in order to cross-examine the various aspects, and I think again you are doing a very good, very complete job. But there is one thing which at least so far, I don't think we have managed to communicate, that I think is important to recognize, and just on this last point here I am speaking for myself rather than the Sierra Club because I don't have any backing from the group to speak for them on this point-but just as people should have a choice, to be able to get a higher-paying job, in an industrialized area, they also should have a choice of avoiding a highly industrialized area. This is something which isn't recognized widely enough. In other words, I maintain that it would be wrong to have heavy industries so common to every place in this country, or every place even on the Atlantic coast, that it wasn't possible to avoid them, especially these kinds of heavy industries which we have agreed at the present state of technology cause an unacceptable amount of air and water and scenic pollution. Therefore, I argue there should be some places in the United States that are free of this sort of thing. Whether this is one of them or not is something that is a decision far beyond me to make. But I think the value of unspoiled areas, the value of areas where people are still able to live in a reasonably unexploited, unexploiting relationship with their environment, is extremely important, if only for a small-scale model of the way we all have to learn to live in the future. And at the moment, the fishing industry, at least in this area, is fairly close to this sort of a situation, and the marine farming industry, if and as it develops, will also be. I think it is a shame for this sort of a possibility to be threatened at this point by the oil industry. Senator MUSKIE. Thank you very much, gentlemen. I think we will have to take a short break, so that the television men can rewind. Ten minutes. (A brief recess was taken.) (The following is a list of references mentioned throughout Mr. Harrison's oral statement:) Reference I-The Sciences, published by the New York Academy of Sciences, Reference II-National News Report of the Sierra Club, April 17, 1970. Reference IV-The Status and Potential of Aquaculture, John H. Ryther, et al. Reference V-Maine Environmental Bulletin, August 1969. Senator MUSKIE. The committee will be in order. We have two more scheduled witnesses, and then we have, I think, six unscheduled local people who have asked to speak. Appearing next is scheduled witness Mr. Marshall Burk, executive secretary of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. Mr. Burk, it is a pleasure to welcome you. STATEMENT OF MARSHALL BURK, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL OF MAINE, AUGUSTA, MAINE Mr. BURK. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, I am Marshall Burk, executive secretary of the Natural Resources Council, which has its headquarters at 20 Willow Street, Augusta, Maine. By way of identification, the Natural Resources Council is a nongovernment, nonpartisan, nonprofit conservation organization. The council has over 1,800 individual members, 16 statewide affiliates, and 55 local and regional affiliated organizations throughout the State. It is the State of Maine affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, a cooperator with the Wilderness Society and other national environmental organizations. Since the announcement in the summer of 1968 of a possible oil terminal and refinery at Machiasport, the Natural Resources Council has paid close attention to the proposal. In the spring of 1969, we published "Twenty Questions for the People of Maine," questions relating to the environmental, social, and economic impact of such a development. Since no substantive answers that reached the heart of these questions were received during the following year, the Natural Resources Council commissioned Frank Graham, Jr., a writer of national reputation in the conservation field, whose permanent home is here in Washington County not far from the site of the proposed refinery, to examine in detail the proposals of the promoters and supporters of the project. The result was a 39-page booklet which analyzes 10 claims made by the promoters in detail and shows the half-truths and inconsistencies with which the proposals have been clad. The conclusion drawn in the report and by the Natural Resources Council from this thorough going analysis is that the uncertain economic benefits contained in the vague promises of oilmen are clearly outweighed by the certain risks of contamination from large and small oil spills. Accordingly, the council remains opposed to the development of a petroleum complex at Machiasport and anywhere in Maine, on the grounds of its apparent incompatibility with sound development and that such a petrochemical development would not contribute in any appreciable degree to the economic betterment of the inhabitants of the Maine coast. In fact, such a petrochemical project could have profound adverse effects on the existing ocean-related and recreational industries which are located in our State's coastal zone. I thank you for the invitation to present this statement. I will be pleased to try to answer any questions you may have. Senator MUSKIE. Thank you, Mr. Burk. I may say that I have read your booklet. Mr. BURK. Thank you, sir. Senator MUSKIE. And I think it is not too long to include in the record. So, without objection, for the committee, the book will be included in the record so that we may have your views at length. Mr. BURK. Thank you, sir. (The booklet referred to follows:) |