263 



In a comparative sense, available evidence supports the 

 conclusion that the New York Bight is less seriously degraded 

 than many other coastal marine areas of the United States and 

 the world. In addition to Commencement Bay and New Bedford 

 Harbor, several other areas (e.g., Puget Sound, Washington; 

 Escambia Bay, Florida; Palos Verdes, California) have higher PCB 

 concentrations in their sediments than those found in the New 

 York Bight, despite the high inputs of PCBs to the Bight system 

 from the Hudson River (NEMP 1981). Similarly, sediments more 

 contaminated by heavy metals than New York Bight sediments are 



..found in many areas throughout the U.S. and the world (Segar and 

 Davis 1983). Contaminant inputs to the New York Bight apex 

 largely come from inputs to the Hudson-Raritan estuary and its 

 freshwater sources. Accordingly,- the estuary itself is much 



"more degraded by these inputs than is the New York Bight. 



In general, wherever there are large urban-industrial coastal 

 cities, the adjacent coastal sediments are contaminated. The 

 degree of this contamination is affected not only by the rate of 

 input, but by the hydrographic and geographic conditions near 

 the input sources. The New York Bight is but one of numerous 

 contaminated areas throughout the U.S. and the world, and many 

 other areas exhibit greater benthic faunal changes and greater 

 sediment, water column, and biotic contamination than observed 

 in the New York Bight (Segar and Davis 1983). 



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