199 



Questions and Answers for the Record 



Hearing Before House MM&F-OGM&OCS on 30 March 1993 



Ocean Disposal of Contaminated Dredge Material 



Question from Chairman Ortiz - The Mud Dump Site has been used 

 as a repository for clean and contaminated dredge material since 

 1914. Is the dredge material proposed for disposal from Newark 

 Bay any more contaminated or environmentally harmful than what 

 has been disposed of at the site in the past? 



ANSWER Mr. Rees: Generally no. As point and non-point sources 

 are regulated, we may see a diminution in the amount of 

 contaminated material at the Newark Bay site. Maintenance 

 dredging and capping the material at the Mud Dump site 

 essentially represents a piecemeal clean-up of the Newark Bay 

 site. 



However, it is difficult to make a full and direct 

 comparison because the historic information is based on less 

 sophisticated and less precise measurements. For example, 

 without recent improvements in sensitivity of testing procedures 

 and eguipment, we would not have been able to detect any dioxin 

 in the Port Elizabeth sediment. How long it has been there and 

 in what quantities is unknown. 



