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QUESTION: 



In your testimony you outlined the various activities of the Agency's 

 Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) program. 

 Are the efforts of the ARCS program applicable to the problems associated 

 to Newark Bay? 



Are there any currently any pilot projects underway to examine 

 decontamination technologies in marine environments similar to Newark 

 Bay? If so, could you describe them in detail? 



ANSWER: 



The results of the ARCS program are a good starting point for developing 

 solutions to contaminated sediment problems in Newark Bay. However, 

 these technologies have to be developed and demonstrated to remediate 

 marine (salt water) sediments. In addition, it is important to note that the 

 levels of dioxin that cause concern in Newark Harbor are several orders of 

 magnitude below those of PCBs and other contaminants addressed under 

 the ARCS program, and such low levels make the analysis of treatment 

 technology efficiencies, and the overall effectiveness of these technologies, 

 difficult to accomplish. 



The New Bedford Harbor Superfund project included remediation of 

 contaminated sediments by several different methods. There are other 

 reports available that describe remediation methods and their results, which 

 are being reviewed by EPA's Region II for their potential in remediating 

 Newark Bay sediments. 



Although at laboratory-scale and not at pilot-scale, the U.S. Army Corps of 

 Engineers is investigating, under WRDA '90, Section 412(c), four 

 technologies for decontaminating sediments from the NY/NJ Harbor region. 

 The treatments being tested are: incineration; thermal reduction ("Ecological 

 Process"); base-catalyzed decomposition; and, chemical solvent extraction 

 ("BEST Process"). 



