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of the Corps has, to its credit, embarked upon an "Incremental 
Pe eaeeaea elon Plan" for management of dredged material emanating from 
the New York Harbor area. This plan calls for the detailed exploration 
‘and implementation of an array of dredged material management options 
(including but not limited to ocean dumping) on a sequential basis 
between February 1980 and May 1985. Among the options to be pursued are: 
deposition and capping of material in "subaqueous borrow pits" in 
New York Bay; caqnsignment to upland disposal sites; use for construction 
of offshore containment islands; Aad a number of "special case" options, 
including use as sanitary landfill cover, for beach nourishment, for 
habitat enhancement, etc. It is, therefore, at least theoretically 
possible that a number of non-ocean dumping alternatives will be available 
for at least some proportion of the dredged material which is currently 
dumped at the Mud Dumpsite, before the advent of the proposed post-1985 
ban on dumping in the Bight Apex. 
It is worth noting--particularly in light of the prevailing view 
that alternatives to ocean dumping of dredged material are very limited 
to non-existent (especially in densely populated areas)--that contractors 
to the New York District have identified 295 so-called (non-agricultural, | 
non-wetland) "barren" areas, collectively comprising about 54,000 acres, 
within a 100-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty, which might be 
suitable containment sites for New York Harbor dredged material. 
Eleven of these sites have been evaluated in depth. It would take 
only a few of these sites to accommodate all of the contaminated 
dredge spoil produced in the New York Harbor area for Many years. 
The point is that, if alternatives exist for the New York City area, 
they are not likely to be unavailable anywhere. 
