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SUMMARY OF EPA SURVEYS OF PAST 

 DISPOSAL SITES FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTES 



A number of reports have been prepared for the Office of Radiation 

 Programs (ORP) of the EPA to describe surveys of the old ocean disposal 

 sites for radioactive materials. These surveys have been generally 

 described in EPA Annual Reports to Congress, ORP Radiological Quality of 

 the Environment Reports, the EPA Journal and elsewhere. 



In 1974, an initial survey term was sent to the Farallon Islands 

 sites. These teams used an unmanned submersible vehicle to locate waste 

 drums. The Atlantic 2800 meter depth site was similarly investigated in 

 conjunction with NOAA studies at Deep Water Dumpsite (DWD) 106. This 

 was followed in 1976 by an EPA survey of the Atlantic site using the 

 manned submersible ALVIN. In 1977 two additional surveys of the 

 Farallon Islands were undertaken to provide estimates of the biological 

 activity and diversity or the area, and to obtain a wide range of 

 samples. In 1978, the ALVIN was again employed to investigate 

 conditions at the 3800 meter depth Atlantic radioactive waste disposal 

 site. 



Geologists, biologists, radiochemists, physical oceanographers and 

 oceanographic engineers from many universities and oceanographic 

 institutions participated in shipboard and onshore laboratory tasks in 

 connection with the EPA surveys. Reports of this work have been 

 submitted to the Office of Radiation Programs in various stages of 

 completion and about 30 are currently on file with EPA. All of these 

 reports have been provided to the House Government Operations Committee 

 Subcommittee on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources, and to other 

 interested government officials. 



The reports are summarized below in two sets: those prepared in 

 conjunction with the Pacific Ocean site investigations, and those 

 prepared in conjunction with the Atlantic Ocean site investigations. 

 Five of the Atlantic reports and three of the Pacific (Farallon Islands) 

 reports are final and have been published; and the remaining reports are 

 in varying stages of completion by contractors or are undergoing 

 scientific review within and outside EPA. The reader should be aware 

 that both data and interpretations presented by the contractor for the 

 reports still undergoing review may be either incomplete or subject to 

 misunderstanding, and do not necessarily represent conclusions of EPA at 

 this time. 



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