274 



Finally, appropriate data are not available at this time to 

 respond to the Committee's request to contrast the PCB levels in 

 New York City and New Jersey Sludges. 



(6) In the event that the 12-iiiile site is redesignated and 

 additional municipalities from either New York or New 

 Jersey who are not now currently dumping apply for permits 

 to begin dumping at the 12-mile site, would New York 

 support or oppose the granting of such permits (assume the 

 volume and quality of the "new" applicants was similar to 

 the volume and quality which New York now dumps)? 



Would New York support opening up the New York Bight apex 

 site to industrial waste dumpers? (If not, why not?) 



At what point will the New York Bight Apex have reached its 

 assimilative capacity for sludge dumping, assuming that the 

 present contaminant inputs into the bight apex from other 

 sources continue? 



Title I of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act 

 of 1972 (MPRSA), as amended (33 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.) authorizes 

 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to grant permits 

 "for the ocean disposal of municipal sewage sludges. Although 

 currently under revision, the criteria used to review and 

 evaluate such permit applications are also established by the 

 Act and EPA. Therefore, it is EPA's responsibility to approve 

 or deny permit applications. We would expect that EPA would 

 base that decision upon an objective evaluation of: 1) the 

 quality of the applicant's sludge, 2) whether the proposed 

 disposal of that sludge would satisfy the established criteria, 

 and 3) an assessment of the human health effects, environmental 

 effects, and practicability of the sludge producer's land-based 

 alternatives for disposal. New York City would not presume to 

 prejudge such a permit decision. 



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