Whitehouse Highlights Marine Debris at Bipartisan Senate Hearing

Press Release

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) today addressed the growing threats to Rhode Island's environment and economy posed by marine debris at a bipartisan oversight hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife. Jonathan Stone, Executive Director of Save the Bay - Narragansett Bay, testified before the Subcommittee on the sources and harms of marine debris, as well as possible solutions to ocean pollution. Marine debris, manmade material that litters oceans and other waterways, can harm wildlife and degrade the natural environment.

Whitehouse is the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee and Co-Chair of the Senate Oceans Caucus. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), also a member of the Senate Oceans Caucus, serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee.

"Some colleagues may try to argue that humans aren't causing climate change, but there is no denying man's role in the startling amount of plastic trash that now litters our oceans and coasts. The problem is pervasive and obvious," Whitehouse said at the hearing. "One of the most dangerous and demanding sporting events on the planet is the Volvo Ocean Race, which stopped in Newport, Rhode Island this past summer. The sailors had seen the world from their boats, and they told of a littered ocean, so littered in fact that they had to make daily debris checks for marine debris fouling their keels and slowing down the boat, even in the faraway South Atlantic."

Marine debris is a significant problem in Narragansett Bay and along Rhode Island's south coast. Last year, Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Cleanup, coordinated locally by Save the Bay, collected nearly ten tons of trash from 65 miles of Rhode Island coastline.

"Marine debris is a human health and safety hazard," Stone testified before the Subcommittee. "It also degrades Rhode Island's iconic beaches and coastline, which attract millions of visitors each year and drive economic activity in our state. It harms animal species that inhabit the bay." In particular, Stone noted the growing accumulation of plastic waste that breaks down over time into smaller particles that are extremely harmful to wildlife and difficult to clean up.

According to Stone, marine debris in Rhode Island can be largely attributed to illegal dumping and littering, and polluted stormwater runoff. He called on the federal government to encourage states to develop stormwater treatment plans, and assist states in the design, construction, and maintenance of stormwater infrastructure.

"It is not a problem without solutions. There are solutions," added Stone.

In September 2015, Rhode Island's federal delegation announced a $194,800 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Middletown-based nonprofit Clean The Bay, Inc. to remove marine debris from the Seekonk and Providence rivers and Upper Narragansett Bay.

Other witnesses at the hearing included Jim Kurth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Deputy Director; Chris Pallister, President and Co-Founder of Gulf of Alaska Keeper; Nicholas Mallos, Trash Free Seas Program Director at Ocean Conservancy; and Dr. Jenna Jambeck from the University of Georgia.

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