504 
area from George’s bank all the way down to the Carolinas shows 
that, in fact, there is no higher incident of those fish diseases in 
the New York Bight than there is in any other part of our coastal 
zone on the east coast. 
Not only that, but in the last several years when the volume of 
sludge that has been dumped in the ocean has increased, the inci- 
dence of those diseases in the New York Bight has diminished 
quite markedly. 
Mr. HuGuHes. You were here last week when NOAA testified, 
where you not? 
Dr. SEGAR. I was, indeed. 
Mr. Hucues. Dr. Byrne testified that recent studies indicated 
there were changes in the community, the bacteria was found, or- 
ganisms which were higher. How can you say that the recent tests 
do not bear out my suggestion? 
Dr. SEGAR. There are bacteria indeed found in shellfish in the 
New York Bight. There are bacteria found in shellfish of any part 
of the coastal zone of the populated world. Concentrations of bacte- 
ria in our shellfish are markedly lower than they are in many 
countries that don’t treat their sewage. 
In the New York Bight one of the problems that we have is that 
we have a considerable volume of untreated sewage being dis- 
charged into that area. I will not refer to my own data. I will refer 
to the Environmental Protection Agency under the previous Ad- 
ministrator. An environmental impact statement that they wrote 
on the 12-mile site studied very carefully the bacteria issue and 
concluded that 98 percent of the bacteria entering the bight apex 
did so through the river. 
Mr. HuGues. But the testimony has been that 30 to 40 percent of 
the mercury found in the bight is contributed by sludge, not by the 
raw sewage that is dumped in. Are you suggesting that 100 times 
the safety level of mercury and cadmium in the bight presents no 
threat? 
Dr. Secar. I have heard you make that statement, Congressman, 
many times and I have tried to find the technical basis for that 
statement. When you refer to concentrations I am not sure what 
you mean. 
Mr. Huaues. I refer you to the report of the Comptroller Gener- 
al, January 21, 1977. 
Dr. SEGAR. Well, I would like to have that particular citation 
read out so that we can understand exactly what it is that you are 
referring to. 
Mrs. SCHNEIDER. Would the gentleman yield, please. 
Mr. Huaues. I will be happy to. 
Mrs. SCHNEIDER. From the NOAA report that we have, the pros 
and cons of ocean dumping on sewage sludge at various miles, 
there is a section that relates the following information about the 
sludge contribution and I will quote it for the record. 
It says, “The proportion of all contaminants that are added via 
sewage sludge dumping is generally small, 1 to 10 percent of the 
total. Potentially important exceptions are PCB’s and mercury,” 
which are needless to say significant. “Nearly half of the mercury 
inputs into the bight are the result of sludge dumping. For PCB’s, 
