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SUMMARY 
GENERAL 
Structured in this submission is the basic premise that ways must be found 
to permit ports and harbors to continue the dredging of new and existing 
waterways to assist in achieving safe passage of vessels of commerce. 
Anticipating that some of this dredged material will contain Annex I sub- 
stances and being aware that public and economic pressures against use of 
sowie present-day types of land environments will increase, this paper eval- 
uates the probabilities that when such dredged materials are disposed in 
the marine environment by "special care" measures no undue environmental 
risks are engendered. 
OBJECTIVES 
This paper has several objectives but the overriding ones are (1) to docu- 
ment that large volumes of material must be dredged and disposed economi- 
cally by major ports and harbors if they are to continue functioning ef- 
fectively, (2) to present evidence that the marine environment is increas- 
ingty a more appropriate receptacle for dredged material than the terres- 
trial environment, (3) to demonstrate that with the use of “special care" 
measures in disposal and dump-site selection, the dumping of dredged mate- 
rial containing Annex I substances would in many cases present no greater 
environnental harm than the disposal of Annex II substances, (4) to suggest 
and describe some "special care" measures, and (5) to invite the Scientific 
Group to take note of these matters and to recommend that Contracting 
Parties achieve a solution by taking appropriate action. 
VOLUMES OF DREDGED MATERIAL 
It is estimated that member nations of IAPH must dredge millions of cubic 
yards of sediment from their ports and harbors each year to keep them safe- 
ly open to ships of comnerce whose cargoes are vital to the maintenance of 
healthy economies. There is every expectation that the need to dredge 
present volumes will continue long into the future. If evan a fraction of 
