200 



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 - Is the process surrounding the 

 Newark Bay ocean dumping permit typical for contaminated dredge 

 material disposal? 



ANSWER Mr. Rees: The permit process used is typical. However, 

 for this project, an atypical amount of time was spent developing 

 the criteria for allowing ocean disposal of the sediment that 

 contained trace amounts of dioxin. The extended time resulted in 

 a significant change in the volume of material to be dredged, 

 which required additional verification testing. This case could 

 occur again whenever a new "contaminant of concern" is found in 

 the sediment for which disposal criteria are not established. 



How can the process be improved on a Federal and State 

 level? 



ANSWER Mr. Rees: The major problems in the process are 

 continually changing or undefined standards and the lack of 

 uniformity among the various regulatory agencies at both the 

 federal and state level as to the standards to be applied. 

 Efforts must focus on establishing standards that are changed 

 only as public health and environmental risks justifying such 

 change are scientifically documented. The second focus must be 

 on interagency coordination to define acceptable standards that 

 will be applied by all. In situations where such agreement 

 cannot be reached, a specific agency should be responsible for 

 final determination of the criteria that will be applied. 



10 



