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-Whether prior notice should be provided to 

 Congress before EPA finalizes the designation 

 of any ocean dumpsite. 



-Whether other measures should be taken to 

 avoid over-exploitation of the ocean for 

 waste disposal. 



Feasibility of Restoring the Environmental Quality of the 

 New York Bight Apex 



The deteriorated condition of the New York Bight Apex is 

 attributable to several types of human-derived contaminants, 

 which are susceptible — at greater or lesser expense — to clean-up. 

 The major categories of contamination are pathogenic microorganisms, 

 synthetic organic compounds such as PCBs, petroleum hydrocarbons 

 (notably the carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) , 

 and heavy metals (such as mercury and cadmium) . 



Rough estimates have been made of the contributions to the 

 Bight Apex of these contaminants from various sources. These 

 estimates are summarized on page 2a. 



Although the apparent contribution of ocean-dumped sewage 

 sludge seems small for most of these contaminants (PCBs being the 

 most noteworthy exception) , there are a number of reasons for 

 regarding the sludge estimates presented in the table as under- 

 estimates and, in some cases, as extreme underestimates. 

 Specifically: 



