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land and Virginia be more impacted by new dumping at the 106-mile site or contin- 

 ued dumping at the 12-mile site? 



Answer. In general, there are two potential impacts of concern to coastal states as 

 a result of ocean dumping of sewage at the 12 or 106-Mile Sites. The first would be 

 potential impacts to a state's resort industry. These would include aesthetic ef- 

 fects — e.g., is the dumping contributing to the degradation of beach quality or caus- 

 ing potential adverse human health impacts (viruses, pathogens)? The second poten- 

 tial impact would be to marine resources, particularly fisheries and shellflsheries. 

 Such impacts include closure of shellfish beds, changes in species diversity, and 

 stress related impacts and bioaccumulation in species of recreational or commercial 

 importance (e.g., finrot in flounder, elevated body burdens of PCB's in bluefish and 

 in striped bass). 



The potential for adverse impacts on a coastal state's resort industry from dump- 

 ing at the 106-Mile Site, given its great depth and distance from shore which allow 

 for significant dilution and dispersion of wastes, is extremely remote. The general 

 transport mechanisms for water movement at the 106-Mile Site are parallel to or 

 away from coastal areas. The potential for impacts to the shore from continued or 

 increased dumping of sludge at the 12-Mile Site is of more concern. Although moni- 

 toring by EPA and others of beach water quality has not shown any degradation 

 directly attributable to sludge dumping, as long as there are shoreward transport 

 mechanisms the concern for potential future impacts remains. 



The potential for fisheries and shellflsheries impacts from dumping at the 12-Mile 

 Site is greater than that at the 106-Mile Site primarily due to the nature of the 

 fisheries and shellflsheries — productive shellfish beds are not known to exist in the 

 vicinity of the 106-Mile Site, but do occur throughout the Continental Shelf. Also, 

 much more extensive recreational and commerical fisheries exist near shore than 

 off-the-shelf. Likewise, the potential for human exposure to pathogens from inges- 

 tion of contaminated shellfish is greater for nearshore areas due to the type of shell- 

 fish which occur nearshore and are often ingested raw; quahogs and scallops, which 

 are harvested farther out on the shelf (between the 12 and 106-Mile Sites), are 

 cooked before ingestion, thus limiting public health risks. 



Physical oceanographic conditions cause the 12-Mile Site, unlike the 106-Mile Site 

 which is an extremly dispersive site, to be a containment site. As a result of this, a 

 community of stress-tolerant benthos has developed in the vicinity of the 12-Mile 

 Site providing an abundant food source for demersal fish and thus increasing the 

 potential for bioaccumulation in species utilized for human consumption. The highly 

 dispersive nature and the lack of a bottom fishery of commercial importance signifi- 

 cantly decrease the potential for bioaccumulation at the 106-Mile Site. 



Question. What is the status of all applications for the ocean dumping of sewage 

 sludge? 



Answer. The following have submitted to EPA incomplete applications for special 

 ocean dumping permits: New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 

 NY; Nassau County Department of Public Works, NY; Westchester County Depart- 

 ment of Environmental Facility, NY; Bergen County Utilities Authority, NJ; Linden 

 Roselle Sewage Authority, NJ; Rahway Valley Sewerage Commissioners, NJ; Mid- 

 dlesex County Utilities Authority, NJ; Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners, NJ; 

 Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties, NJ; and Washington, D.C. 



In addition, incomplete applications were received in 1982 and subsequently with- 

 drawn from: Joint Meeting of Rutherford, East Rutherford, and Carlstadt, NJ; City 

 of Asbury Park, NJ; and Joint Meeting of Madison-Chatham. 



In accordance with court issued final judgements regarding New York City (No- 

 vember 1981), six New Jersey sewerage authorities (May 1982), and Nassau County 

 (December 1982), and a proposed judgement with Westchester County (48 FR 15020), 

 applications for special ocean dumping permits have been received. Additionally, 

 data required under 40 CFR Part 221, which is non-ocean dumpsite specific, have 

 been submitted to EPA by all but NYC and Westchester County. These data are 

 being reviewed for completeness. 



Until completion of EPA's final action on petitions to redesignate the 12-Mile Site 

 for disposal of sewerage sludge under the court orders, these applicants are not re- 

 quired to submit ocean site specific information, or information concerning the rela- 

 tive environmental risks of land-based versus ocean disposal. 



The District of Columbia submitted to Region II, in November 1981, an incomplete 

 application for a Special permit to ocean dump sewage sludges at the 106-Mile Site. 

 Region III informed the District in April 1982 of specific deficiencies in this applica- 

 tion. No response has been received (as of June 1983) by EPA. 



