entrance to New York Harbor have been utilized to receive materials from dredging 

 of the harbor's access channels and ship berths. The disposal sites have been moved 

 several times, the present disposal grounds in the New York Bight being approxi- 

 mately 10 km (6 mi) east of Highlands, New Jersey, and 16 km (10 mi) south of 

 Rockaway Beach (Gross, 1976). Dredged material consists of natural material orig- 

 inating in the watersheds of the Hudson and other rivers entering the harbor; solid 

 material entering the waterways through sewage treatment plant discharges, storm 

 sewers, and other outfalls; and material brought in with tidal flow from the Atlantic 

 Ocean. Dredged material varies from clean sand with very low organic content and 

 extremely low concentrations of trace metals and synthetic organic contaminants to 

 contaminated sediments containing several percent of organic matter and high con- 

 centrations of trace metals and synthetic organic compounds. The ongoing issue of 

 the environmental impact of disposal of large quantities of dredged material with 

 associated quantities of toxic metals and synthetic organics has been discussed 

 above. However, ocean dumping of polluted dredged material has created a recent 

 environmental "crisis." Although the "crisis" addressed only a portion of the over- 

 all problem, it focused public attention on this issue. 



The dumping of dredged material in the ocean has been regulated under the 

 Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act since 1972. In view of the lack of 

 understanding of the environmental impact of solid wastes disposed in the ocean, the 

 regulations pursuant to the Marine Protection Research and Sanctuaries Act were 

 amended in Janua-ry 1977, so that criteria for determining whether a material is suit- 

 able for ocean disposal are based on the use of bioassay techniques and bioaccumu- 

 lation tests (40 CFR Part 227; 42 Fed Reg 2476-89, January 11, 1977). Implementa- 

 tion of the bioassay procedures began early in 1978. All dredged materials from the 

 New York area were found to pass the new bioassay-based criteria as these were 

 interpreted by the Corps of Engineers, although significant questions have been 

 raised concerning the Corps' interpretation of the criteria. This issue is the subject of 

 an ongoing lawsuit brought by the National Wildlife Federation (Kamlet, 1981). 

 Bioaccumulation testing was required after February 1979. When bioaccumulation 

 data began to become available for dredged material, it became apparent that, at 

 least with respect to PCBs, many contaminated dredged materials could not pass the 

 bioaccumulation criteria as interpreted by the Environmental Protection Agency 

 and that under existing guidelines, no permit for ocean disposal could be issued for 

 these dredged materials. 



This situation raised the serious question of whether parts of the Port of New York 

 and New Jersey would be forced to close, since without an ocean disposal permit, 

 there was no reasonable means of disposing of material resulting from maintenance 

 dredging of essential ship channels. The potential economic and social disruption 

 that would have been caused by such a closure was sufficient to generate consider- 

 able. public concern, and the issue of dredged material disposal in the ocean became 

 an environmental "crisis." During the early months of 1979, several permit applica- 

 tions for maintenance dredging in the Port of New York and New Jersey were sus- 

 pended while the Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency tried to 

 decide whether or not these permits could be issued in view of the positive findings of 

 the bioaccumulation tests for PCBs. Channel and berth siltation, meanwhile, contin- 

 ued, and the availability of adequate berths was in doubt for the liners Queen Eliza- 

 beth II, Rotterdam, and Norway due to arrive in April and May. The necessary 

 dredging permits were finally issued in March. 



Under the ocean dumping regulations, certain specified contaminants including 

 PCBs can be ocean dumped only when present in ocean dumped materials "in such 

 forms and amounts . . . that the dumping of the materials will not cause significant 

 undesirable effects, including the possibility of danger associated with the bioaccu- 

 mulation in marine organisms" (40 CFR 227.6b). The Environmental Protection 

 Agency/Corps of Engineers' implementation manual that specifies the bioaccumu- 

 lation test procedures states that "in order to ensure environmental safety, it must be 



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