Subseries 1: Hart-Miller contains information related to one of Congressman Long's most contentious campaigns on behalf of his constituents in eastern Baltimore County. In 1969 the state announced plans to put an eventual 52 million cubic yards of dredge spoil from the Baltimore harbor around Hart and Miller islands, a recreational area in the Chesapeake Bay. The plan was to build retaining dikes around the islands and dump the sludge behind them. While it was generally agreed the harbor should be deepened to accommodate longer hulled ships, environmentalists and people who used the islands for recreational purposes enlisted Long in a "Save the Island" crusade. Their message to state officials was "stop your aggression or prepare for war." (The Sun July 25, 1980) Congressman Long lived up to his reputation as a populist with his willingness to take on much of the establishment in his efforts to defeat the plans for Hart- Miller. He disagreed with the local press, the Maryland Port Authority, the Army Corps of Engineers, and state officials all of whom argued for the dredging work. A Hart/Miller Defense Group formed whose complicated legal challenges delayed the project for over ten years. Appeals were eventually denied, and Long was forced to concede that he lost the battle in court. During the Reagan administration in the 1980s, most Federal funding was denied, and when the project proceeded, it was dramatically reduced in scope.

( See also a report written by Cadet Victor A. Swebert, U.S. Military Academy, entitled "Hart-Miller. A Study in U.S. Public Policy." The 1977 report is filed in Series 3: Projects Subseries 4: Defense Issues; Box 31 Folder 38.) In the subseries are Long's position statements on Hart-Miller, clippings, environmental research and reports, correspondence with constituents and various legal and environmental experts, results of hearings, update reports, and meeting notes.