44 



Undersea borrow-pits have been used on an experimental basis 

 in Long Island Sound and the New England area as an alternative 

 for the disposal of contaminated sediments. This approach pre- 

 sumes that contaminated sediments will be isolated and contained 

 by a clean sand cap and the pit walls and bottom. Proper pit design 

 and construction is important to the effectiveness of this approach. 

 The cap must prevent biological and physical disturbance of the 

 underlying dredged material to ensure that contaminants are not 

 mobilized. 



Despite the apparent success associated with this technique, the 

 siting of these pits remains a contentious issue that has to be ad- 

 dressed when this alternative is proposed. Another concern is sedi- 

 ment dispersal during dredging and disposal operations. An initial 

 loss of three to five percent of the volume occurs in the water 

 column during pit disposal. Improvements in dredging procedures 

 need to be considered, and a more comprehensive long-term moni- 

 toring program is needed to ensure that pit stability is maintained 

 and any long-term diffusion of contaminants is detected. 



Under recommendations, I add to my written testimony that 

 first and foremost support needs to be provided to the U.S. Geologi- 

 cal Survey to do sediment transport studies in the harbor and at 

 the Mud Dump Site. The Mud Dump Site is reaching the end of its 

 useful life, and, however, I don't think this means that we have to 

 hastily adopt an unproven alternative if risk to marine life and 

 human health continue to be within acceptable limits. 



New proposals to use untested disposal or storage technology are 

 inappropriate without the necessary time to study these methods 

 properly. One proposal offered by the public interest groups is in 

 vessel storage. This proposal suggests that specially designed 

 barges be used to store and isolate the contaminated sediment until 

 further development of treatment technology. The history of acci- 

 dents from ships or barges makes me uneasy about this solution. 

 However, I don't claim any special knowledge of this approach. 



I am skipping some of what I was going to say because we are 

 reaching the end of my time. Remediation technology will require 

 some years of development, demonstration, and pilot-scale testing 

 to become practical and successful. This means we must begin now 

 to support those techniques with the most promise. The bench-scale 

 studies need to start immediately; for example, the bacteria in con- 

 junction with magnetic separation. 



Given the urgency of the situation at Port Newark/ Port Eliza- 

 beth, we should continue to manage contaminated sediments with 

 known techniques even if they are not ideal. Intermediate range 

 steps must be pursued to isolate and contain contaminated sedi- 

 ments until such time when remediation becomes possible. Finally, 

 public participation must be a vital part of the decisionmaking 

 process as we seek intermediate and long-term solutions. 



Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for 

 your time. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

 [The prepared statement of Mr. Grassle can be found at the end 

 of the hearing.] 



Mr. Ortiz. Mr. Grassle, you do have very interesting and very 

 important testimony. I can assure you that the entire testimony 

 will be inserted for the record. Mr. Engler, you may begin. 



