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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 Mr. Weldon - Is the Corps involved in any efforts 

 to develop a long term management plan for the disposal of 

 contaminated sediment? 



ANSWER Mr. Rees: Yes. We have specific efforts underway in San 

 Francisco Bay, Toledo Harbor, Baltimore Harbor and Houston- 

 Galveston Ship Channel, with plans being developed for long term 

 management strategies in all dredging areas where disposal 

 options are at issue. Solutions to long term dredging needs will 

 reguire cooperative efforts of Army Civil Works, the port and 

 maritime interests, and Federal and state agencies responsible 

 for pollution control at its source, and other environmental and 

 economic interests. We cannot expect the ports or the maritime 

 industry to pay for all the pollution sins of the past and we 

 must be creative in finding ways to see that those responsible 

 for causing or allowing the pollution contribute a fair share of 

 the remediation costs. As briefly discussed in their testimony, 

 EPA does have an ongoing effort to develop a national strategy 

 for contaminated sediment management. The Corps efforts may 

 often have to be closely coordinated with these efforts on a 

 regional basis to ensure, for example, that available disposal 

 capacity suitable for disposal of highly contaminated sediments 

 is not used instead for sediments that do not reguire that level 



