Progress has been made by NOAA Environmental Research 

 Laboratories in adapting acoustical equipment for tracking particulate 

 matter such as might be found in sewage sludge. In a Navy project, 

 preliminary design work is being done on an automated pollutant- 

 measuring device that will permit rapid and accurate measurements of a 

 large number of chemicals present in seawater. 



NEW TECHNIQUES FOR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND 

 CONTROL 



Development programs of a different nature are being conducted by 

 Federal agencies to improve methods of controlling the release of pollu- 

 tants into marine waters or to facilitiate the containment, dispersal, or 

 removal of oil and other hazardous material discharged into the water. 



The Maritime Administration (MARAD) of the Department of Com- 

 merce administers a program to develop tanker design, construction, and 

 operating criteria needed for the reduction of pollution from ships. 

 MARAD also coordinates port authority efforts to develop shore 

 facilities for the treatment of oily wastes. In addition, MARAD partici- 

 pates actively in various Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative 

 Organization (IMCO) Committees, and other forums that consider 

 research and developmental findings in the negotiations of international 

 standards and agreements. 



Researchers at the Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory have developed 

 a prototype ultrasonic sewage treatment system. Exciting the sewage 

 system with ultrasonic energy has been found to produce almost com- 

 plete mortality in coliform bacteria. The use of such a system in over- 

 board discharges from ships should significantly reduce their impact on 

 the marine environment. 



To prevent other forms of pollution from ship operations, the USCG is 

 cooperating with the USN in a joint project to develop high-capacity oil 

 and water separators and impermeable, flexible membranes to avoid 

 mixing ballast water with fluid bulk cargoes. USCG also has developed 

 new testing techniques for pollution abatement and control instrumen- 

 tation. The Oily/Water Separator Testing Laboratory installed in a Coast 

 Guard Test Facility near Mobile, Alabama, was formally activated in 

 February 1976. This laboratory will be the United States principal 

 facility for testing the ability of equipment to satisfy proposed IMCO 

 specifications for oily/water separators and to investigate the influence 

 of test variables on oily/water separator performance. 



There are a range of other USCG projects continually undergoing 

 modifications that are directed at the prevention of marine pollution, in- 

 cluding such developments as a "fingerprinting" process to facilitate 

 marine pollution enforcement. 



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