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the ocean as the ultimate garbage can, waste management has developed a more proactive and 

 environmentally safe approach, which benefits everyone. 



The only material that can be legally ocean dumped in U.S. waters is dredged sediment. 

 Contaminants in the sediment pose a threat to the marine environment. Decontamination 

 technologies developed in the Great Lakes, as well as techniques pioneered by mining 

 companies, are succeeding in recycling useful minerals from sediments and removing harmful 

 pollutants. If sediments were lumped into a bag and tossed overboard, the ability to mine them 

 for useful elements or reduce their toxicity would be lost. 



Waste Monitoring, Retrieval And Site Clean-Up Would Be Nearly Impossible With Deep 

 Ocean Dumping. 



In terms of waste disposal on land, the emphasis is on constructing facilities whose 

 activities can be closely monitored to determine if harm to the environment or human health is 

 occurring. For example, landfills are now required to have double liners to help reduce the 

 possibility that wastes will filter through to underground water supplies. Monitoring systems 

 are required to determine if wastes are moving offsite or leaking fi-om the disposal area. Wastes 

 are supposed to be confined so that, if possible, treatment can occur. 



None of these criteria would be met with deep ocean dumping. Monitoring would be 

 extremely difficult through 3 1/2 miles of water in an area subject to currents, underwater 

 storms and wave action. Leakage or offsite movement would be difficult to determine and if 

 found, remedies would be practically non-existent. 



A New Deep-Ocean Dumping Practice Would Divert Federal Ftinds Away From Problem- 

 Solving 



In the Navy's Report, Federal funding would be required to develop and test the 

 technologies that are in the five "concepts" discussed in the Report. As this Congress knows, 

 Fedoal Funding budget for innovative technologies that benefit the environment is extremely 

 limited. The entire budget for the Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments 

 (ARCS) program in the Great Lakes is a modest $S million per year. Since this program has 

 been ongoing for eight years, and its New York-New Jersey counterpart has been in existence 

 for a couple of years, it would make better fiscal sense for tfie Federal government to direct its 

 limited resources into technologies that hold the promise of solving the waste problem, not just 

 re-locating it. 



Deep Ocean Dumping Would Leave A Legacy For Future Generations To Confront 



This country has a history of embarking on waste disposal activities whose impacts are 

 not realized for generations. For example, liquid hazardous wastes were dumped into unlined 

 landfills, which led to toxics leaching out and poisoning drinking water. Tall stacks spewed air 

 pollutants that resulted in acid rain and significant forest damage. Too often our response to a 



