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The Honorable Solomon P. Ortiz 

 May 10, 1993 

 Page 3 



2. Are the levels of contaminants found at the Mud Dump Site at levels that 

 would negatively impact the health of humans if the specimens were consumed either 

 directly or indirectly through the food chain? 



This is a difficult question to answer, because the Food and Drug Administration 

 has only set Action Levels on methyl mercury, PCBs and fourteen pesticides. The 

 pollutants of concern at the Mud Dump Site are several heavy metals, hydrocarbons and 

 dioxin, for which FDA Action Levels do not exist. In other words, there may be problems 

 associated with consuming fish or shellfish from the Mud Dump Site contaminated with 

 certain pollutants, but there no standards against which current tissue levels can be 

 compared. 



Additionally there is very little data on the levels of contaminants in fish and 

 shellfish. The only work conducted thus far on collecting and analyzing fish and shellfish 

 from near the Mud Dump Site has been by the State of New Jersey (described in my 

 testimony on page 4). Worms collected at the Mud Dump Site were found to have levels 

 of mercury and DDE below the FDA action limits. PCBs were not analyzed in the 

 worms. The average level of dioxin in worms at the Mud Dump Site (5 pptr, wet weight) 

 is one-half of limit set by the State of New York as being appropriate for fish consumption 

 (10 pptr). Other states have set much lower fish consumption numbers, such as Virginia 

 (1 pptr) and North Carolina (3 pptr). 



The hepatopancreas of blue crabs collected from within the New York Harbor by 

 Dr. Angela Cristini of Ramapo College have been documented to have concentrations of 

 2.3.7.N-TCDD ranging from 40-80 pptr (in crabs collected from Sandy Hook Bay) to 450- 

 960 pptr (in crabs collected from Newark Bay). The crabs collected from Sandy Hook 

 Bay can be considered to be relatively unimpacted by dredge material disposal. Therefore, 

 it can be hypothesized that even if crabs and other crustaceans collected from the Mud 

 Dump Site are not being impacted by dredge material disposal, but only by ambient 

 concentrations of dioxin, they could have similar levels of dioxin in their hepatopancreas. 

 These concentrations in the hepatopancreas of crustaceans may potentially be a public 

 health problem and are being reviewed by the State of New Jersey to ascertain if the 

 current health advisories need to be revised. 



3. What adjustments to this permit could be made to garner our support? 



a) The preparation of an E1S to determine whether or not this activity meets 

 applicable federal and state standards; 



b) The use of a scientifically credible dioxin bioaccumulation criteria promulgated 

 by Region II, with full public participation; 



c) An acknowledgement of contamination at the Mud Dump Site by EPA and the 



