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Ocean Dumping Law which may further assist in achieving 
Congressional objectives for the program. 
The 1970's: A Decade of Progress--and Setbacks 
Looking back on the first decade of ocean dumping controls, 
the track record of successes and failures can be summed up 
as followed: 
1. The New York Bight, and particularly the New York Bight 
"Apex"--the coastal ocean off the shores of New Jersey and Long 
Island, continues to be one of the most degraded coastal 
environments in the world. Fin rot, gill erosion, skin tumors, 
parasitic infestations, microbial infections, chemical 
contamination, and developmental abnormalities are rampant in 
the fish and shellfish unfortunate enough to inhabit this 
cesspool of human and industrial effluvia. Ocean dumping is 
certainly an important contributor to these problems. However, 
although the ocean dumping of sewage sludge has taken most of 
the blame in the news media for this sorry state of affairs, 
the fact of the matter is that other waste materials bear an 
equal or greater share of the blame. Contaminated dredge 
spoils, dumped at the so-called "Mud Dump" Sits in the Apex, 
contribute a large proportion of the highly toxic PCBs, 
carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and toxic 
heavy metals present in the Bight. Riverine inputs from the 
Hudson and Raritan Rivers; fall-out of contaminants from the air; 
flow of contaminated runoff from surrounding shoreland; direct 
discharges from outfall pipes; and spills and releases of oil 
and other chemicals, all contribute to the sorry condition of 
the Bight. 
