Table ll-l — Estimated Amounts and Costs of Wastes Barged to Sea in 



1968 < 



Pacific coast disposal Atlantic coast disposal Gulf coast disposal 

 Wastes 



Tons Cost Tons Cost Tons Cost 



Dredging spoils 7,320,000 $3,175,000 » 15,808,000 $8,608,000 15,300,000 $3,800,000 



Industrial wastes (chemicals, 



acids, caustics, cleaners, 



sludges, waste liquors, oily 



wastes, etc.): 



Bulk 981,000 991,000 3,011,000 5,406,000 690,000 1,592,000 



Containerized 300 16,000 2,200 17,000 6,000 171,000 



Garbage and trash 1 26,000 392,000 



MisceUaneous (airplane parts, 



spoiled food, confiscated 



material, etc.) 200 3,000 



Sewagesludge «4,47r,000 4,433,000 



Construction and demolition 



debris - 574,000 430,000 



Totals 8,327,500 4,577,000 23,872,200 18,894.000 15,996,000 5,563,000 



' Does not include outdated munitions. 

 5 Includes 200,000 tons of fly ash. 



' At San Diego dumping of 4,700 tons of vessel garbage at S280,000 per year was discontinued in Nov. 1968. 

 * Tonnage on wet basis. Assuming average 4.5 percent dry solids, this amounts to approximately 200,000 

 tons dry solids per year being barged to sea. 



Source: Marine Disposal of Solid Wastes, an Interim Summary, Oct. 1969. Dillingham Corporation, 

 Applied Oceanography Division Under Contract to Bureau of Solid Wastes Management, Department of 

 Health, Education, and Welfare, October 1968. 



Oil pollution is an increasing threat to the marine environment The 

 world's annual oil production of 1.800 million metric tons, is increasing 4 per- 

 cent each year. Some 60 percent (or 1,000 million metric tons) is transported 

 by sea, much of it in restricted shipping lanes. Estimates indicate that 0.1 per- 

 cent of the total transported, or about 1 million tons per year, is spilled or 

 leaked into the marine environment. 



More dramatic and destructive in the short term are massive oil spills 

 such as the Torrey Canyon tanker disaster and the drilling mishap at Santa 

 Barbara. The harmful effects of the spills, and in the case of the Torrey 

 Canyon the destruction from use of detergents to clean up the oil, were 

 serious for property and marine life. High mortalitv- of \vaterfowl and ma- 

 rine life, accumulation of hydrocarbons in the food chain of survi\-ing fish, 

 and overall damage to marine life and property- were observable 

 consequences. 



Burned fossil fuels, of which the United States is responsible for over one- 

 third of the world's total, go in part to the seas as residues containing carbon 

 dioxide, sulphates, and nitrates. Estimates indicate the carbon dioxide level 

 of ocean surface waters has increased markedly since the beginning of the 

 industrial revolution. Solid smoke particles accumulating in ocean sedi- 

 ments may alter the chemical composition of the ocean. 



Two hea\-y metals, lead and mercury, enter the ocean in part through 

 man-made discharge. Estimates indicate that about 10,000 tons of lead are 

 introduced yearly. Lead concentrations in the Pacific surface waters have 



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