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The objective of the Clean Water Act is to restore and maintain the 

 chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters, with an 

 interim goal of water qual.ity which provides for the protection and 

 propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and provides for recreation in 

 and on the water. Further, the stated policy under the Marine Protection, 

 Research, and Sanctuaries Act is to prevent or strictly limit the dumping 

 into ocean waters of any materials which would adversely affect human 

 health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems 

 or economic potentialities. If these goals are what is meant by "the stated 

 goal of environmental restoration", then we believe that a substantial 

 restoration is possible through a combination of pollution control efforts. 



The ocean offshore of New York City, commonly referred to as the New 

 York Bight (Figure 1), is one of the most heavily contaminated coastal areas 

 in the United States. The 11,000 square nautical mile area is contiguous to 

 a major densely populated urban center which also serves as a major center 

 of commercial and recreational activity. The Bight Apex, which is a 1,100 

 square nautical mile area of the Bight adjacent to the New York Harbor 

 entrance, receives contaminants from a number of sources, including 

 municipal and industrial wastewater discharges, combined sewer outfall 

 discharges, ocean dumping, storm water runoff, nonpoint source runoff, and 

 atmospheric deposition. Estimates of contaminant inputs to the Apex have 

 been reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); 

 the most recent update of estimates for selected pollution parameters are 

 presented in Table 1. 



