53 
Domestic MuNICcIPA 
THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE CONCERNING THE CAPACITY OF 
THE OCEAN TO ASSIMILATE CERTAIN TYPES OF WASTE MATERIALS WITHOUT 
BECOMING UNREASONABLY DEGRADED- IN PARTICULAR, A GREAT DEAL HAS BEEN 
LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPACTS OF MUNICIPAL SLUDGE COMPOSED PRIMARILY OF 
DOMESTIC WASTES AS DISTINGUISHED FROM SLUDGES WITH A HIGH INDUSTRIAL 
CONTRIBUTION- THESE STUDIES INDICATE THAT THE OCEAN DOES HAVE A 
CAPACITY TO ASSIMILATE NATURALLY OCCURRING ORGANIC MATERIAL SUCH AS 
DOMESTIC SEWAGE: 
DoMESTIC SLUDGES FROM MUNICIPAL WASTE TREATMENT PLANTS ARE 
PREDOMINANTLY COMPOSED OF FINE GRAINED ORGANIC MATERIAL THAT AT 
APPROPRIATE SITES TEND TO REMAIN IN SUSPENSION AND CAN BE RAPIDLY 
DISPERSED BY OCEAN CURRENTS WITHOUT BUILDING UP ON THE FLOOR- THE 
AEROBIC CONDITIONS IN THE OCEAN AIDS IN THE BIODEGRADATION OF THIS 
MATERIAL- WHILE SOME CHANGES WITHIN THE MARINE ECOSYSTEMS HAVE 
OCCURRED, SUCH AS PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOMS OR CHANGES IN SPECIES DIVERSITY, 
THESE ECOLOGICAL CHANGES APPEAR TO BE LOCALIZED AROUND THE DUMP SITE, 
AND TEMPORARY: AT THE ORIGINAL PHILADELPHIA DUMPSITE, TEN MILES OFF 
Cape May, THERE WAS BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION FROM SEWAGE SLUDGE DUMPING 
AS WELL AS SLIGHTLY ELEVATED LEVELS OF TRACE METAL CONTAMINATION IN THE 
SEDIMENTS FROM RUNOFF FROM THE DELAWARE Bay- TWO YEARS AFTER THE SITE 
WAS CLOSED, THE LEVELS OF BACTERIA HAD DECLINED SUFFICIENTLY TO PERMIT 
REOPENING OF THE SITE TO SHELLFISHING BY THE FooD AND Druc 
ADMINISTRATION: DUMPING AT THE NEW PHILADELPHIA DUMPSITE 40 MILES 
FARTHER OUT TO SEA WAS STOPPED IN 1980, AND THIS SITE HAS ALSO PURIFIED 
ITSELF TO THE EXTENT THAT RECENT STUDIES BY FDA SHOW THAT IT CAN BE 
REOPENED TO SHELLFISHING IN THE NEAR FUTURE- 
