vided to construct disposal facilities and also to guarantee loans for such capital facilities. These guarantees should be designed to cover loans made by private lenders to private contractors who have been extended a valid contract and who have the recommendation of the appropriate municipality to the lender. This will help to stretch the value of the tax dollar to its maximum. Various other imaginative and creative financial incentive programs must be explored. Federal guarantees of industrial or community development bonds are among these alternatives which should be considered and made available for the construction of new and improved solid waste disposal facilities. Under such arrangements a great deal of incentive and stimulation will come into play and produce action in a healthy and constructive manner. Research and development funds In regard to the second point concerning research and development funds, it cannot be overstressed that no degree of mechanical perfection on one level of this endeavor will guarantee a free flow of material into the industrial and agricultural stream unless these channels are adequately widened. As an example, a substantial amount of work must be performed in the papermaking industry on the utilization of mixed fibers. More efficient cleaning systems must be developed which utilize this material, representing used fiber from households and commercial establishments. The same thing can be said of metals. It may be necessary to demand more concern on the part of industry for the problem which we face and for the responsibility that it must assume in conserving our resources. On this whole subject, there appears to be a great deal of opportunity, but there is also a great deal of both industrial and public responsibility involved. For too long most of the elements of our society, especially the business community, have walked away from the solid wastes problem. This must stop now and be replaced by a concerted effort on all parts to cooperate in the resolution of this problem. Virtually no aid or effort has been expended by any public body to help with the utilization of municipal waste compost. With only nominal cooperation by public bodies, a large, useful and a beneficial disposal outlet is opened up to our urban and suburban centers. Here the proportion of benefit to expenditure is enormous and therefore deserves immediate priority. And I concur heartily in what Dr. Chuck Harding just mentioned a while back in regard to the same subject, that there is a great absorbance capacity on the part of our public lands for the use of compost. Federal incentives The Federal Government must provide incentives nad encouragement, not only on the first level of endeavor in solid waste disposal. but also in the second level, so that we may assure a free flow of commodities back into the economy and the ecology. It is therefore recommended that in the interest of accomplishing the second point mentioned above, that provision be made for a major industrial and agricultural research program in all of the major industries contributing significantly to the solid waste pile, with the objective of developing both new and broader opportunities of reuse of our total resource found in solid waste. In supporting S. 2005, the Resource Recovery Act of 1969, it is hoped that speedy and determined effort be put forth to establish a strong and fully adequate program for covering the whole problem. It must not be overlooked that the program can be many times more effective if, at its inception, it also provides a catalytic spark in those allied and related industries which are privately financed and poised to make a tremendous contribution to the total program. 65 percent paper products Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you, Mr. Brown. I wish to call attention for the record to your very illuminating statement where you say that 65 percent of that which is delivered to a disposal plant is paper or paper products. Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir. Senator RANDOLPH. Now, that can be repossessed Mr. BROWN. Yes, sir. Senator RANDOLPH (continuing). And processed and reused. Is that correct? Mr. BROWN. That is correct. Senator RANDOLPH. I will not read further from the other breakdowns in glass and metals and textiles and plastics, but this is a very important statement that you make, and I want to at least underscore what you have indicated in this regard. Another important item that you bring to the subcommittee's attention is a matter of a possible guaranteed loan for the construction of disposal facilities. And I want to say to you that this is a matter which we are thinking about. We are studying this and alternate methods, by which this can be done. Possibly, you have helped us very much today by concentrating, as I concentrate at least, upon these two points that I have underscored. Thank you very much. (Subsequently the following letters were received for the record :) Mr. VICTOR BROWN, Metropolitan Waste Conversion Corp., Wheaton, Ill. AUGUST 4, 1969. DEAR MR. BROWN: I wish to express my appreciation to you for your assistance during the Committee's recent hearings in Jacksonville on S. 2005, the Resource Recovery Act of 1969. Your testimony was very informative and helpful. Enclosed is a copy of the hearing transcript of your testimony which is being prepared for publication. Your assistance in reviewing your presentation and. where appropriate, editing it for clarity would be appreciated. In reviewing the transcript, additional questions have occurred which I would like to direct to you at this time: 1. It is the Committee's understanding that a nonprofit organization was established in the Gainesville area in order to establish eligibility to receive a Department of Health, Education and Welfare grant to demonstrate composting. What prevented your organization from applying directly for the grant? 2. The hearings are concerned with S. 2005, the Resource Recovery Act of 1969, which emphasizes the need to develop longterm solutions to the solid waste disposal problems facing Gainesville and the Nation. Resource recovery and waste management are suggested solutions, but success depends upon knowing the characteristics of the wastes to be disposed of. In your operation do you now, or do you plan to make estimates of the nature of the wastes you are required to handle, either in terms of— 1. Volumes involved 2. Weights involved 3. Composition or makeup 4. Sources of origin 3. Your organization has had considerable experience in operating composting plants. What has been your procedure for dealing with materials which do not lend themselves to composting? For example, bottles, cans, plastics, bulky objects, and yard trash? 4. How do you dispose of these materials at the present time, and what do you feel would be required to render reuse or recovery of these materials feasible? Your response by August 15, 1969, will allow us to meet our projected publication schedule. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you and the many others who made our stay in Jacksonville pleasant. With kind regards, DEAR SENATOR RANDOLPH: Thank you for your letter of August 4, 1969 and your kind expression concerning the value of our testimony for the Committee's recent hearings in Jacksonville on S. 2005, the Resource Recovery Act of 1969. I have reviewed the transcript of testimony which you enclosed and believe that it is accurate and satisfactory as shown. Concerning the questions which you raised, I would like to respond to them in the order in which you listed them: 1. Concerning the installation of a Metro-Waste system in Gainesville, Florida, a non-profit organization was established to handle the grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The reason for this approach was our understanding that a grant under the Solid Waste Act of 1965 could not be issued directly to a regular commercial corporation. 2. In our operations we do make estimates and evaluations of the various components of the solid waste and their characteristics. These include the four categories you listed of 1. Volumes 2. Weights 3. Composition or make-up 4. Sources of origin 3. We do have a great deal of experience in composting municipal solid waste and we likewise have developed considerable detailed experience concerning inorganic items which do not lend themselves to composting. The chief items involved are glass and metals. Since the chief contributing source lies in the packaging or container industries, these two materials emanate therefrom-glass from bottles and jars, and steel and aluminum from cans and closures-again representing the real source of these commodities. Ferrous metal is removed magnetically and has a market for us. Aluminum is taken out by hand and has an expected market which we are in the process of opening up. Glass is presently being extracted in preparation of a promised market within the glass container industry. This is not a firm reality at the present, but we are hopeful that this market will become a substantially large market. Bulky objects, such as major appliances, are presently landfilled, but it is our recommendation that in future plants grinding equipment be sufficiently large so that these items can be shredded and then major commodities such as steel and aluminum can be extracted and marketed. Yard trash is usually composed of brush, grass and tree trimmings which are readily composted and returned to the soil. 4. Our concept of total resource recovery currently provides for practical recovery of 95% of municipal solid waste. This does involve systematic, mechanical separation of these various major components of paper, metals, glass, textiles for salvage, and the balance composted for bulk return to the soil as a bene We trust the above explanation to the points you have raised will further demonstrate the intense work already accomplished in this field and which will perhaps direct additional interest and effort in pursuing the effectiveness of resource recovery from solid waste as is provided under S. 2005. If we can be of any further help to you and your Committee, we would be very happy to hear from you. Yours very truly, Senator RANDOLPH. Mrs. Havs, please. VICTOR BROWN, President. STATEMENT OF MRS. PAUL HAYS, PRESIDENT OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF JACKSONVILLE, FLA.; ACCOMPANIED BY MRS. JAMES POWERS, IN CHARGE OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT Mrs. HAYS: I am Mrs. Paul Hays, president of the League of Women Voters of Jacksonville, and with me today is our first vice president, Mrs. James Powers who is in charge of our program development. Senator RANDOLPH. Thank you, Mrs. Hays and Mrs. Powers. Mrs. HAYS. And we are just going to hit the highlights of our presentation, and I want to point out to you that one of our fields of endeavor is to concern the public in this problem. So we are attaching our pollution brochure which we have developed locally here and are handing out in quantities, large quantities, to the public. Gentlemen, 2 years Senator RANDOLPH. At that point, I just say this for the record. I might forget it later. I want to express for the subcommittee our appreciation of the coverage which is being given and has been given and will be given to this hearing. I have never found better cooperation than we are having here today. I appreciate the coverage and I underscore this, not in any way as a pleasantry but as a statement of fact. I think it is very wonderful that we have had channel 7 giving live coverage, minute by minute, of this hearing today, and then topping it off tonight with a 1-hour presentation. This is a real contribution, not because I am here or anyone particular is here, but because we are talking over a very important problem and problems. And, I hope there are tens of thousands of persons who are going to be able to see and to hear what has been taking place at this time. Differences, I am not disturbed about those, but indifference, I am disturbed by it. So, if in Jacksonville people can be brought to the realization of the importance, the differences can be examined later, really. Thank you, Mrs. Hays. Will you go forward. Mrs. HAYS. Yes, sir. AIR POLLUTION Two years ago the League of Women Voters of Jacksonville adopted as one of our local studies air pollution in Jacksonville. We will study, take consensus and then act on this program. Early in our study it became apparent that Jacksonville does indeed have a serious air pollution problem, just as our eyes and our noses told us previously, indicated by a corrosion rate as high or higher than many big cities such as St. Louis and Chicago, a high particulate count, a gasoline consumption approaching the level at which smog damage to vegetation has been observed, and weather patterns which seriously hinder, at times, the natural dispersion of pollutants and concentrate them in a shallow layer of air close to the earth's surface. Night inversions in the fall and winter months occur 75 percent of the time. It also became apparent that there was considerable community apathy concerning our dirty air. There seemed to be a lack of public knowledge or interest in the cause, effect, and control of air pollution in Jacksonville. Our news media, either because of disinterest or intention, gave little coverage to the problem and the political climate discouraged efforts to change the time-honored tradition of filling the air with garbage. The league has been concerned with all facets of our air pollution problem, but has concentrated its efforts in two main areas. It has attempted to develop public support for, and to initiate and support legislation to promote our positions on the municipally owned electric generating stations and the automobile. Major areas of concern Our 400 League of Women Voters members agree that: 1. Reduction of sulfur oxide emissions by the city electric generating stations would be of major significance, as they are responsible for 77 percent of the sulfur oxides in our air, due to the burning of high sulfur content residual fuel oils. 2. The county motor vehicle inspection program should add air pollution inspections to the list of safety inspection requirements. A year ago in May the league proposed the latter to the former county commission. After much delay, due in part to the changeover to the consolidated government, local legislation was written by the public health and welfare committee and introduced to the city council. This ordinance would have added to our safety inspection program inspections to determine that the air pollution control devices were in place and operating, and that the exhaust smoke of 1969 and later model cars did not exceed a Ringleman No. 1 visual test. The public safety committee deferred action on this bill to await the outcome of State legislation concerning the safety inspection programs. The State amended the 1967 Florida statute which set up the motor vehicle safety inspection program and repealed chapter 325.32 which allowed the counties to have "more frequent or requirements more stringent than provided herein." Senator, you referred to these earlier. We do have copies of the State statutes here that we will attach to our presentation. Senator RANDOLPH. They will be included." Mrs. HAYS. This effectively killed our local bill. We would like to point out that, in the judgment of our city counselor, those counties which already have more stringent requirements will be permitted to continue these inspections. We are gratified that a bill was written at the request of our councilman, Mr. Lynwood Roberts, which would include air pollution inspections to the State safety inspection requirements and was in com |