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THE AGENCY HAS IDENTIFIED ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTABLE OCEAN 
DISPOSAL SITES FOR DREDGED MATERIAL WHERE WATER DEPTHS AND TURBULENCE 
GENERALLY PROVIDE ADEQUATE DILUTION AND DISPERSION OF SEDIMENTS- ALSO 
THE INFREQUENCY OF DISPOSAL OPERATIONS MINIMIZES THE DIRECT EXPOSURE OF 
IMPORTANT SPECIES TO DREDGED MATERIAL- STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT THE 
OCEAN DISPOSAL SITES ARE RAPIDLY RECOLONIZED BY NEW POPULATIONS OF 
SPECIES WHICH HAVE MIGRATED FROM NEARBY UNAFFECTED AREAS, AND BY 
SURVIVING ORGANISMS AT THE SITE- 
WE BELIEVE THESE CONCLUSIONS REGARDING DOMESTIC SEWAGE SLUDGE AND 
DREDGED MATERIAL ARE GENERALLY ACCEPTED IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY - 
GROUPS SUCH AS THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, THE Army Corps oF 
ENGINEERS, AND THE NATIONAL ADvIsoRY ComMITTEE ON OcEANS AND ATMOSPHERE 
(NACOA), ARE IN AGREEMENT ON THESE POINTS: THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE 
FEDERATION SO TESTIFIED BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE LAST June- NACOA, IN ITS 
JaNuARY 1981 REPoRT oN “THE RoLE oF THE OcEAN IN A WASTE MANAGEMENT 
STRATEGY’, REVIEWED THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE AND REACHED A SIMILAR 
CONCLUSION THAT THE OCEAN SHOULD NOT BE PRECLUDED AS AN OPTION FOR 
DISPOSAL OF DOMESTIC SEWAGE SLUDGE AND DREDGED MATERIAL: 
IMPROVED SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUES 
OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS, LABORATORY BIOASSAY TECHNIQUES AND PLUME 
MODELING HAVE IMPROVED SO THAT WE CAN BETTER PREDICT IMPACTS IN THE 
FIELD BEFORE THEY ARE ALLOWED TO OCCUR- SOME OF THESE TECHNIQUES CAN 
BE OF USE IN OUR OCEAN DUMPING ACTIVITIES- WE NOW HAVE FIELD DATA FROM 
Los ANGELES AND PuGeT SouND To ASSESS THE ACCURACY OF SOME OF OUR 
