226 



2.i HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY 



The 106-Mile Site is a 2,500 square kilometer area of the Mew York Bight 

 that is located 106 nautical miles southeast of the Ambrose Light Tower 

 in water depths ranging from 1,440 meters in the northwest corner to 

 2,750 meters in the southeast corner (Section 2.1)*. Since 1961, the 

 site has been used intermittently by more than 100 different dumpers for 

 the ocean disposal of a variety of materials including: chemical wastes, 

 industrial acids, radioactive materials, sewage sludge, and sewage sludge 

 digester cleanout residues (Chapter 5). The 106-Mile Site is not located 

 near any site having natural or cultural features of historical import- 

 ance (Section 2.3) . 



2.2 FISHERIES 



The vicinity of the site is not heavily fished because of its extreme 

 depth, its distance from population centers, and because of the area's 

 naturally low biological productivity (Section 12.3). The 106-Mile Site 

 is a small area within National Marine Fisheries Service Statistical Area 

 623. This statistical area has consistently accounted for less than one 

 half of one percent of the commercial catch from the Bight, with sword- 

 fish, American lobster, sea scallop, bluefin tuna, and shark accounting 

 for most of the catch. The lobster and scallop catch almost certainly 

 come from the shallower depths of the northwest corner of Statistical 

 Area 523 and not from the much deeper 106-Mile Site, which has only 

 sparse populations of these species (Section 12.3). Since the area has 

 low biological productivity, no major unexploited stocks of any species 

 are known to exist within the 106-Mile Site. 



2.3 PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND DISPERSION 



Physical oceanographic conditions at the 106-Mile Site are extremely 

 complex and variable due to its location on the continental slope and 

 within the influence of three distinct water masses (shelf water, slope 

 water, and Gulf Stream eddies). Therefore, the transport and fate of 

 dumped materials depends both upon the location of seasonal and permanent 

 thermocl ines, which may inhibit vertical mixing, and upon the water 

 masses present at any time (Section 3.4). Generally, shelf water runs 

 southward along the coast while the Gulf Stream system flows northeast- 

 ward. Between these two water masses, slope water circulates in a 

 counter-clockwise gyre. Superimposed on these systems, anticyclonic 

 wanT\-core eddies are spun off by the Gulf stream and typically flow 

 southward along the continental slope (Section 3.2). It is generally 

 concluded that, because of the great depth and active current regime, 

 sewage sludge particulates dumped at the Site will not reach the sea 

 bottom (Section 9.6) . 



Oceanic diffusion studies indicate that at the end of the four hour 

 "initial mixing" period after its discharge, the sewage sludge is 

 expected to be diluted one part sludge to about 30,000 parts of seawater 



* References in the Technical Summary refer to sections in the main body 

 of the report. 



C-3 



