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The research vessel LULU, support ship for the ALVIN submersible, will depart 

 for the site from Woods Hole, Massachusetts on June 20 and will rendezvous with a 

 second research vessel, the ADVANCE II departing from Wilmington, North Caroli- 

 na on June 18. Present plans call for an eight-day survey with the participation of 

 over thirty researchers from eleven academic institutions, three U.S. Federal agen- 

 cies, and the Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute. 



An EPA oceanographer will descend in the ALVIN submersible to the 13,000 foot 

 depth in order to examine the condition of the drums and to determine the feasibil- 

 ity of retrieving one of them for later analysis. This will be the twelfth submersible 

 dive in the last four years and is part of the comprehensive survey program 

 developed by the Office of Radiation Programs to study the effects of past dumping 

 of radioactive waste. 



Scientists aboard the ADVANCE II will conduct a comprehensive program of 

 water, sediment, and biota sampling. The collected material will yield information 

 on the levels and extent of radioactivity in the dumpsite area, the ability of sedi- 

 ments to absorb and immobilize selected radioactive materials, the presence of 

 biological food chains which could transmit radioactivity to man, the extent to 

 which biological organisms could redistribute radioactivity, and the geologic stabil- 

 ity of the dumpsite area. 



The "Ocean Dumping" Act of 1972 requires EPA to set regulations controlling 

 ocean disposal of all materials including low-level radioactive wastes. The Act 

 specifically prohibits ocean disposal of high-level radioactive wastes. The United 

 States has not dumped any radioactive wastes in the ocean since 1970, although 

 several European nations are actively using this form of disposal. The technical and 

 operational results of this EPA radioactive waste dumpsite survey program, which 

 commenced in 1974, will be evaluated to determine the feasibility of developing 

 more comprehensive ocean disposal regulations and standards. 



As stated earlier, we are concerned with monitoring for various 

 objectives, the foremost of which has been a firsthand scientific 

 attempt to examine the many biological, chemical, goelogical physi- 

 cal processes acting on the radioactive waste drums in abandoned 

 U.S. nuclear waste disposal sites; processes which could transport 

 or immobilize the radioactive materials. The ability to assess and/ 

 or predict as closely as possible the impact of past and potential 

 future low-level radioactive waste disposal activities is of consider- 

 able importance to our agency mandates. 



Health impact monitoring of abandoned sites is also perceived as 

 important. But, both of these goals are predicated on our ability to 

 understand the ocean processes that can contribute to or impede 

 that radiological impact. 



As a result of our survey at the Atlantic 3800 meter dumpsite, 

 what have we learned about the ocean conditions at this site? First, 

 the biological populations living in and on the ocean bottom sedi- 

 ment are scanty, and are fewer in numbers and species per unit 

 area than either of the shallower Pacific-Farallon Islands dump- 

 sites investigated. 



Second, the evidence of slump scarps and avalanche deposits, 

 coupled with a noticeable lack of biological activity, suggests that 

 the area is geologically unstable. 



Third, there is strong visual evidence of a rapid, Southwesterly- 

 moving undercurrent. 



And fourth, there is no convincing evidence of any elevated 

 concentrations of radioactivity in the biota, sediments, or water 

 collected from the dumpsite. 



The future use of this site would appear undesirable based on its 

 geologic instability and the difficulty in monitoring the area. How- 

 ever, lack of extensive biological populations, and the presence of 

 strong dispersal forces would seem to suggest lower potential for 

 physical and biological accumulation of any of the radioactive 



