OIL POLLUTION.

Forest and Bird, Issue 30, 1 August 1933, Page 5

OIL POLLUTION.

“ Wild ducks lie dead and dying by the score, even hundred, on the South Beach this week, as they have lain for the past week or ten days. Helpless from floating oil, they seek the land, forewarned by some instinct of their fate, and there, in such slight shelter as they can find among the low beach hills, die miserably.” This is quoted from the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette for February of this year. The story continues to paint a sad and vivid picture of the ducks, most of them eiders, trapped by the insidious oil as it floats upon the tide. And this is not an isolated

tragedy. It is multiplied many times where oil-polluted waters take toll of sea bird life, kill or injure shell fish or crustaceans, and upset the entire balance of life in the sea. Oil pollution is therefore an important phase of conservation. It is a part, not only of the problem of preserving wild life and food sources

in the sea, but, as well, conservation of mineral oils. It is an issue of international significance demanding the cooperation of all maritime nations. What has been done about it? In 1924 the Oil Pollution Act was passed. Under this the dumping of oil or oily bilge from vessels was prohibited within the three-mile limit. No restrictions were placed upon land industry situated on or near navigable streams and dumping their waste into such water courses. This last fact, coupled with the extreme difficulty of any effective enforcement of the Act itself, has brought charges of discrimination from the steamship people, and a more or less careless disregard of the law. In recognition of the international significance of the question, there was held in Washington, D.C., in 1926, a convention of the maritime nations. An agreement was drawn up binding the

signatories to the dumping of no oils within fifty miles of any coast. Ten nations signed; three —Germany, Italy and Japan—did not. The result was an ineffective and comparatively unobserved pact. So far as inland waters are concerned legislation of varying efficacy has been locally enacted to check the oil pollution nuisance. In some instances these laws appear to have accomplished their purpose, have been enforced and have brought about a diminution of the pollution. In other cases there are reports of increasing menace from oil waste, with laws entirely inadequate to meet conditions and with a resultant menace both to public safety and to aquatic life. In certain instances, where serious attempts have been made to correct the situation, it has been found that the laws are difficult or impossible of enforcement. These are not, however, insuperable problems. Co-operation with and between the States, and between the States and a progressive attitude on the part of the Federal Government, can and should bring about a solution. Water is a vital part of our biologic and economic structure. When there is too much of it there is flood and destruction; when there is too little there is drought and destruction; when water is poisoned there is death and destruction. • Industry or special interests have no vested right to bring about any of these conditions. Perhaps most important, and certainly most difficult of regulation, is the problem of oil on coastal waters. Here it becomes an international question. It is an issue that should be above politics and the selfish concerns of vested interests. It is also a problem of economic significance since it involves both waste of mineral oils and wild life. Some steamship companies have faced the issue and have commanded strict observance of rules against dumping oily bilge, or have installed oil separators on their vessels. These items of equipment reclaim the oil from the bilge water with a resultant saving in fuel costs. Majority opinion appears to be that separators are worth the investment, but it is safe to say that the large majority of oil-burning vessels are not so equipped. And it is equally safe to observe that the majority of these oilburners pump their oily bilge overboard when and as they wish. It is thus we find the situation. On the one hand we have the Nature lover and the sportsman seeking the conservation of bird life; we have the important consideration of wise and efficient use of our supply of fuel oils; we have the question of preserving from contamination certain sources of food supply inherent in the sea; we have the bather who prefers to dive through surf that is not slimy with oil. Against these we have

arrayed the political and financial power of the shipping industry of the world, not to exclude the navies, our own having been, in the past, none too careful about how and where it dumped oil. We have no patience with an attitude that foregoes any regulation because it is hard to enforce. If it is necessary to require that all oil-burning vessels, to be licensed or cleared in and out of a port, be equipped with and use oil separators, then let it be required. Let us demand a right to eat lobsters untainted with fuel oil and to bathe on clean sea beaches. Above all, let us do away with the multiple tragedies, such as that of Martha’s Vineyard, with their terrific annual drain upon our aquatic bird life. —Nature Magazine.