432 



With the permission of the chairman I would Hke to present a series of sHdes 

 which highlight important features of this Atlantic 3800m dumpsites as well as 

 important aspects of our 1978 survey activities. 



Slide No. 1. — Presents a table listing the four primary U.S. radioactive waste 

 disposal areas. Three of these areas are located in the Atlantic while the fourth very 

 large area is near the Farallon Islands, offshore from San Francisco. The three 

 Atlantic dumpsites listed in this table account for almost 99 percent of the total 

 radioactivity inventory dumped into the Atlantic betwen 1946 and 1965. It should be 

 noted that the reactor vessel from the nuclear submarine SEA WOLF was also 

 disposed of at the Atlantic site 120 miles offshore from the Maryland-Delaware 

 border at a depth of 2800 meters or (9,300 feet). It differs from the other wastes in 

 that it is primarily induced activity fixed in the stainless steel reactor vessel. 



Slide No. 2. — Is a map showing the locations of the three major U.S. Atlantic 

 disposal areas. Any future plans to monitor abandoned U.S. east coast dumpsites 

 should include these three sites. Ships logs of many of the deepsea disposal activities 

 suggest that the radioactive wastes were placed in a broad area around the desig- 

 nated dumpsite coordinates. Therefore, it is important to factor this information 

 into any planned monitoring activities within and around the three sites if mean- 

 ingful comparisons of site-specific versus baseline or ambient concentrations are to 

 be made. 



Slide No. .?.— Shows the Research Vessel ADVANCE II out of Wilmington, North 

 Carolina which provided logistics support for drum recovery, trawling operations for 

 biological samples, large-volume sediment sampling, and seawater sampling in the 

 3800 meter dumpsite area. This ship along with the manned submersible ALVIN 

 and its support ship R/V LULU comprised the necessary system to meet our survey 

 objectives. These objectives were detailed in an EPA Press Release of June 19, 1978 

 which I would like to submit for the record. The objectives included: (1) an extensive 

 program of water, sediment, and biota sampling to measure concentrations of radio- 

 activity and its distribution within the 3800m dumpsite; (2) identification of any 

 unexpectedly high concentrations of radioactive isotopes in the 3800m dumpsite 

 region; (3) identification of commercial species of fish and invertebrates; (4) observa- 

 tions of the geologic stability of the area; (5) observations on radioactive waste 

 packaging performance after immersion in the deep-sea for many years; (6) recovery 

 of a selected radioactive waste package, and; (7) evaluation of the suitability of 

 existing technology to fulfill deepsea monitoring requirements now and in the 

 future. 



Slide No. 4- — As with our previous 1975 and 1976 Atlantic surveys at the 2800 

 meter dumpsite, the submersible we used was the DSV ALVIN. It is a three-man 

 submersible equipped with video and 35mm external cameras and a remotely con- 

 trolled manipulating arm. It was necessary to recertify the ALVIN for diving to 

 4000m (approximately 13,200 feet) from its previous depth limit of 3660m (approxi- 

 mately 12,000 feet) in order to meet our survey requirements. This is a permanent 

 recertification. The deepest point we reached during the three dives at the 3800m 

 site was 3985m. At present ALVIN is the only manned, untethered submersible 

 available to civilian agencies, which can operate to this depth. In this slide we see 

 the ALVIN just before its first dive into the 3800m site. The core tubes, modified 

 with T-handles for use by the manipulating arm, are seen in the basket attached to 

 the front of the submersible. 



Slide No. 5. — ALVIN starting a descent. 



Slide No. 6. — Shows the bottom conditions in this 3800m dumpsite. This site is 

 near the main channel of the outer reach of the Hudson submarine canyon and has 

 walls varying from gently sloping to vertical cliffs up to a height of approximately 

 200m. 



Marl or claystone talus blocks appear in the foreground, probably derived by 

 slumping from steep adjacent walls. A small hermit crab is also visible in the 

 foreground. 



This photo is indicative of the irregular terrain we encountered throughout the 

 3800m site. The irregular terrain coupled with strong southerly-flowing bottom 

 currents made bottom traversing quite difficult in the ALVIN submersible. 



Slide No. 7. — Is another view of the bottom terrain slightly deeper (3970m) in the 

 dumpsite area. The white cobbles are Eocene-age chalk, while some of the other 

 cobble-sized materials are glacial erratics. 



Slide No. 8. — Is reminiscent of those cliched situations where one finds a beer can 

 at the top of a supposedly unconquered mountain. Here is a neatly situated fruit 

 cocktail can in a most unlikely location. The area is striking in its lack of features. 

 The area is swept smooth by the currents and there is no evidence of biological 

 activity. 



