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QUESTION: 



The Mud Dump site has been used as a repository for clean and 

 contaminated dredged material since 1914. Is the dredged 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: 



The Mud Dump Site has been used as a repository for dredged material since 

 1914. Until the enactment of the Marine Protection, Research and 

 Sanctuaries Act in 1972, there was very little environmental oversight of 

 material disposed. After establishment of MPRSA and the Ocean Dumping 

 Regulations, proposed material has been tested in accordance with the 

 procedures in place at the time. EPA Region II has requested dioxin testing 

 in certain areas since the mid 1980's. The detection level for dioxin was 1 

 part per billion (ppb) for the Newark Bay Deepening project, which was 

 begun in 1987, as well as other previous projects disposed. Since then, our 

 technical ability to measure dioxin has improved to allow detection limits in 

 the part per trillion range. EPA believes that some of the material deposited 

 in the past contained dioxin at levels below the 1 ppb detection level but 

 above the current detection level of 1 part per trillion. 



