17 



- 7 - 



at the 12-mile site were discontinued. It is not clear, there- 

 fore, to what extent benthic community composition is determined 

 by sewage sludge dumping at the 12-mile site. Faunal changes 

 may be of ecological and economic significance because the 

 bottom f,=<nn^ that fi)r''eni- 1 y driminat*? the Chri st iaensen Basin 

 do not include the preferred prey of commercially important 

 Bight finfish. The implication is that areas impacted by high 

 carbon loadings (and associated toxicants) probably reduce the 

 production of Bight fisheries. At this time, however, it is 

 impossible to judge the magnitude of such recuctions. 



Toxicants from sewage sludge disposal in the Bight have been 

 identified as contributing causes of environmental degradation 

 and ecological effects. However, the relative importance of 

 sewage sludge remains uncertain. It is probable that the conta- 

 minant contribution of sewage sludge to environmental loadings, 

 body burdens and ecological effects for a given toxicant is 

 approximately proportional to the sludge input to the Bight as 

 a whole. For most contaminants, the proportion added to the 

 New York Bight region via sewage sludge dumping is generally 

 small (i.e., 1-12% of the total) (Figure 4). For example, 

 approximately 0.3 tons of mercury enter the Estuary Bight system 

 per day. Some 70% of this is contributed by municipal waste- 

 water, 4.5% by sewage sludge dumping, 4.5% ..y dumping of dreged 

 material, 14% by rivers and the remainder by various sources. 



