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In calculating whether deep-ocean disposal is practical, the cost 

 of bringing the knowledge of deep-ocean processes up to the levels 

 we take for granted in other environments should be factored into 

 the cost of disposal. The costs of prevention of short dumping, 

 and the enforcement of protocols for emplacement on the seafloor 

 should also be included. Alternative approaches that include 

 beneficial use, source reduction, and alternatives available for 

 waste isolation should be carefully evaluated. A substantial 

 portion of the costs associated with disposal alternatives are 

 related to management and regulation, where obstacles have little 

 to do with the actual costs of containment or treatment. Rather 

 than using the worst cases of management of contaminated sediments, 

 costs associated with the most efficient management practices 

 achievable should be used. 



Some of the interest in using the abyssal plain as dumping ground 

 for contaminated sediments is a result of a crisis presently faced 

 by the Port of New York and New Jersey. In my previous testimony 

 before the House Subcommittee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in 

 1993, I recommended: 



continuation of the use of the 6 -mile Mud Dump Site in the 



short term pending development of another method for 



containment, 



determination of the sources of contamination and a study of 



the transport processes associated with deposition of 



contaminated sediments in shipping channels and berths, 



use of specially-designed pits for sub-seabed containment 



within the Harbor, and 



initiation of a broad-based, long-term strategy to develop 



methods for remediation of Newark Bay sediments. 



Some of the reasons there has been little progress in any of these 

 areas include: a complex and fragmented regulatory framework, lack 

 of an adequate mechanism to evaluate new technology, an 

 inadequately informed public, and our inability to manage the Port 

 as an entire system. I believe that the limited resources 

 available to the Port should be used to improve management of 

 contaminated sediments rather than for development of techniques 

 for isolation of sediment on the abyssal plain. 



This conclusion perhaps begs the more general question about the 

 feasibility of using the abyssal plain to isolate wastes. 



