210 
only eight areas in the United States with a designated "sole 
source aquifer" which meets all of the drinking water needs 
of its residents. Disposal of sludge-derived composted materials 
on Long Island could compromise the integrity of the aquifer, 
creating a public health crisis’of major proportions. Ground- 
water resources are extremely fragile, and they can be signifi- 
cantly contaminated through landfill leaching and other processes. 
Once compromised, the integrity of such sources of drinking 
water is next to impossible to restore. 
In fact, concern about the potentially dangerous impacts 
of such materials on land has led New York State to impose a 
ban on the use of sludge for agricultural purposes. Scientists 
at Cornell University recently suggested that the State's two- 
year ban be made permanent since they view sewage sludge as too 
toxic to use on land. 
Weighed against these elighe associated with non-ocean dis- 
posal are the scientific findings with respect to current disposal 
practices in the New York-New Jersey area. EPA concluded in 
their 1978 Environmental Impact Statement on Ocean Dumping of 
Sewage Sludge in the New York Bight that moving the sewage sludge 
disposal site out of the Bight Apex was "unnecessary and poten- 
tially more damaging to the environment than taking no action 
whatsoever." Research findings since that time have simply served 
to confirm that conclusion. After nearly sixty years of con- 
sp 
tinuous dumping at the 12-Mile site, there has been no accretion 
=O 
