675 
Mr. Swanson. In this particular case, the EPA testimony was re- 
ferring to work that we had done and supplied to the EPA. 
Mr. Carney. Then, Captain, would you agree with what EPA 
said at that Public Works Committee hearing, that the continuing 
of dumping sewage and sludge in the bight would have no effect on 
human health? 
Mr. Swanson. Our position on the disposal of sewage sludge at 
the 12-mile site is that it has caused considerable degradation in 
the area of about 240 square kilometers on the bottom; that it does 
cause some shellfish resources to be lost; but that in the vicinity of 
the beaches and so forth, sewage sludge cannot be blamed for caus- 
ing disease or poor water quality. 
Another fact that we have provided to the EPA, and I believe 
that was testified to last week, is that there does appear to be a 
steady state situation in the New York Bight when it comes to con- 
taminates. Right now, throughout the bight apex, it is not serving 
as a sink. There is an input of material going into the system and 
there is an export of material from the system, and there is a gen- 
eral residue, but over the last 10 years it does not seem to be either 
expanding in geographic scope or that the concentrations of materi- 
als in the bottom sediments are getting any higher. 
Mr. Carney. I would like to switch back to questioning EPA. 
Mr. ScHEUER. Would my colleague yield on this point? 
Mr. Carney. I would be more than glad to yield. 
Mr. ScHEUER. It is my understanding from figures that NOAA 
gave us that approximately 95 percent of the degrading impact in 
the New York Bight comes from activities and phenomena other 
than sewage sludge disposal. Is that an incorrect figure? 
Mr. Swanson. The numbers we have typically used are that 
sewage sludge contributes in a range between 1 and 10 percent of 
most contaminants in the New York Bight. PCB’s are an exception. 
Mr. ScHEUER. Then 5 percent would form the middle range. I be- 
lieve that EPA also testified before our committee that approxi- 
mately 5 percent of all of the environmentally degrading effects 
were caused by sewage sludge. 
Now, would you say our knowledge is sufficiently refined at this 
point such that you could tell us what the change in environmental 
degradation would be, if that 5 percent or 1 to 10 percent, however 
you want to characterize it, of degradation that comes from sewage 
sludge disposal were to cease tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock? Do 
you have a computer model that could tell us what the impact on 
human health and the ocean environment would be if sewage 
sludge comprising that roughly 5 percent were to stop tomorrow 
morning at 9 o'clock? 
Mr. Swanson. Our knowledge of ecological systems is not suffi- 
cient to give you a quantitative answer to that question. We have 
tried to deal with it in a qualitative sense and have made estimates 
of what would occur if sewage sludge dumping did cease, and our 
estimates are that there would be a marginal increase in environ- 
mental quality in the New York Bight area. 
Mr. ScHEUER. Could you give us what information you know that 
would help us fine tune our thinking on exactly what that margin- 
al increase would be? 
Mr. SwANSON. We will supply it for the record. 
[The information follows:] 
