210 



The altered benthic fauna in the New York Bight apex are associated pri- 

 marily with topographical lows. These altered benthic populations are 

 most likely caused by physical alteration of the sediment substrate and 

 enhanced carbon loadings. Further, since the contribution of solids 

 (Table 5-22) and contaminants (Section 6.6) to the apex from sewage 

 sludge is small, it is reasonable to conclude that other identified 

 sources contribute much more to the alteration of the benthic area. 



2.9 PUBLIC HEALTH HAZARDS 



Sewage sludge potentially affects human health through two possible modes 

 of impact: consumption of contaminated fish or shellfish, and direct 

 contact with, and ingestion of, pathogens through swimming. Mo seafood 

 species in the New York Bight is known to be contaminated by any toxic 

 compound (other than PCBs) to levels which are considered a public health 

 hazard. PCBs contaminating some coastal fish species in the New York 

 Bight originate from river, estuarine and coastal sources and not from 

 ocean dumped sewage sludge (Section 15.3). Further, whatever the possi- 

 ble level of contamination of seafood species, sewage sludge contributes, 

 at most, only a small fraction of the inputs of all toxic compounds to 

 the New York Bight (Section 6.6). 



Some shellfish within the Bight apex closure area are known to contain 

 elevated concentrations of coliform bacteria, which are indicators of 

 sewage contamination and the possible presence of pathogens (Section 

 16.2). It is not known what proportion of the col i forms found in these 

 shellfish originated from treated sewage effluent discharges and 

 untreated sewage, and what proportion originated from dumped sewage 

 sludge. However, since sources other than sludge dumping contain orders 

 of magnitude greater quantities of coliforms (Sections 6.6 and 16.1), it 

 is reasonable to conclude that sewage sludge dumping is not primarily 

 responsible for the shellfish contamination within the New York Bight 

 apex. Since an area with a radius of 6 nautical miles around the sewage 

 sludge dumpsite is closed to shellfishing (Section 16.2) as a precaution- 

 ary measure, no public health hazard exists from shellfish contamination 

 at or near the 12-Mile site. 



The beach bathing waters of the New York Bight apex and Raritan Bay 

 have variable coliform concentrations which sometimes approach or exceed 

 levels that are deemed safe for swimming. However, it has been conclu- 

 sively demonstrated that pipelines and other direct discharges of treated 

 sewage effluents (and occasional untreated stormwater runoff) contribute 

 more than a one hundred times higher coliform (and, by inference, patho- 

 gens) load than sewage sludge dumping to the New York Bight apex (Section 

 6.6). In addition, these land based discharges occur in nearshore areas 

 close to the beaches, whereas sludge dumping occurs 9.9 nautical miles 

 from the nearest beach. As sewage sludge coliforms and pathogens are 

 transported from the 12-Mile Site, their concentrations are drastically 

 reduced by dispersion and die-off (Section 16.6). Therefore, as noted by 

 both EPA (1978) and NOAA (1982), the effect of sewage sludge dumping on 

 beach water quality is insignificant, and dumping poses no potential or 

 actual human health hazard through this mode of impact. 



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