425 
carefully managed especially when some Annex I and Annex II contaminants 
are present in more than trace amoants. 
RECEIVING ENVIRONMENTS - LAND VS. SEA 
There are three major categories of disposal environments for dredged ma- 
terial removed from saline waters: 
(a) the land or upland areas, 
(b) the estuarine/continental shelf complex, and 
(c) the offshelf deep ocean 
In recent years sponsors of dredging projects have made much use of land 
sites for disposal purposes. Boyd et al. (1972) believed that this trend 
arose in part because of concern over open-water disposal of contaminated 
sediments in traditional ways. There are, however, inany environiental 
problems associated with confining dredged material on land (Meccia, 1975). 
Among these are the deteriocation of dike integrity, long duration of flu- 
idity of the dredged material unless additional expenditures of time and 
money are made, loss of sediment from the containment area into the water- 
way, possible contamination of ground waters, and quite frequently there 
are both sight and smell indignities -- not to mention health hazards in 
some areas aS a result of breeding of mosquitoes. Clearly there are other 
even more critical problems associated with land disposal in the 1980s and 
beyond. One of these is becoming more apparent with each passing month; it 
is the lack of appropriate and available space for disposal on land of 
sediments derived from major ports and harbors. In the USA, for example, 
areas such as the Gulf coast that once had no such problem are now faced 
with it as the influx of people has seen intensive utilization of upland 
areas for industry, housing and services, and recreation. This has result- 
ed in acceleration of the usurpation of agricultural land for non-produc- 
tive uses. Certainly the heightened competition for space has curtailed if 
not eliminated the use of upland areas for disposal of dredged material. 
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