107 
Selection of an ocean option for sewage sludge disposal should he 
made only in the context of a larger commitment to improve the overall 
quality of the New York Bight. Ocean dumping costs are usually less 
expensive in the short term than terrestrial alternatives that are 
presently available. The tendency of most institutions to minimize 
dollar costs for waste disposal is understandable, but the environmental 
consequences must be assessed. The damage to the marine environment of 
the Bight apex, in terms of lost sport and commercial fisheries, lost 
aesthetic values, and health risks from all sources of marine pollution 
is sufficient to warrant a rigorous plan to improve marine environmental 
quality. Consideration of ocean dumping of sewage sludge must be part 
of that commitment. 
Sewage sludge dumping is a small but measurable factor in the 
overall degradation of the Bight apex. Ending ocean dumping in the apex 
would lead to improvement in environmental quality of a limited geographic 
area but, there are few ecological advantages in closing the existing 
12-Mile site, given the immediate ocean disposal alternatives. The only 
potentially significant advantages are 1) major reductions in the inputs 
of bacterial and viral pathogens to apex sediments, and 2) reduction by 
approximately 25% in the PCB inputs. There are however, major pathogen 
sources other than sewage sludge, and there is no assurance that the 
existing pathogens in the apex sediments would die off substantially for 
several years after cessation of sewage sludge dumping. While trans- 
location of PCBs out of the apex would be advantageous, there is no 
environmental advantage to disperse large quantities of PCBs more widely 
(result of 106-Mile site use) or to contaminating a new area (result of 
65-Mile site use), since they already constitute a significant global 
problem. 
The inputs of all pollutants are at least partially controllable, 
given more time and the collective will. In this context, it must be 
remembered that the sewage sludge dump site can be relocated to the 
106-Mile site at anytime should other sources of pollution be reduced 
such that environmental benefits derived become significant. In fact 
all barge dumped inputs can be relocated. 
