59 
E. A Partial Assessment of Problems Associated with Pollution in 
the Inner Bight (Base of Sandy Hook to Jamaica Bay) 
New York Harbor and its contiguous areas (Lower Bay, Arthur 
Kill, Raritan Bay, etc.) must rank as one of the largest grossly 
polluted areas in the United States. The variety of pollutants 
entering daily into this area is not fully documented and can 
only be broadly categorized as to types of sources. Thus, the 
relative effects of the major sources of pollution is difficult 
to assess, even grossly, not only because of inadequacy of data 
on type and quantity of pollutants, but lack of knowledge about 
synergistic effects and on general environmental impact. 
Table 1 presents a calculation of relative BOD loads for (1) 
municipal sewage discharged into New York Harbor, (2) sewage 
sludge dumped into the dumping ground, and (3) municipal sewage 
discharged by the upriver areas. The data indicate that the munic- 
ipal sewage discharged into the Harbor contributes about 11 times 
more BOD to the Bight than the upriver discharges and twice as 
much as the sludge dumping. They further suggest that sewage 
sludge dumping contributes about five and one-half times more BOD 
than the upriver discharges. However, these calculations may not 
reflect the relative impact of these sources of pollution on the 
environment, but can only provide an approach to assessing orders 
of magnitude. Sewage discharges are quite dispersed and are spread 
out across the entire area while the sewage sludge dumping is con- 
centrated in only one place. The possible effects from toxic waste 
and relative effects of diffusion and concentration of materials 
cannot be evaluated and worked into these relationships. Also, no 
attempt was made to calculate the BOD contributions from dredge 
spoil. This is-an extremely variable value but probably quite 
high for dredge spoil in New York Harbor. 
Table 1. -- BOD Contributions to the New York Bight 
1. Municipal Discharge to Harbor 206,000 Tons/Year 
2. Sewage Sludge to Dumping Ground . 106,000 Tons/Year 
3. Upriver Discharges 19,000 Tons/Year 
Nos. 1 and 3 from Proceedings of the Third Session of the Enforce- 
ment Conference on the Hudson River and its tributaries, June 18-19, 
1969. fi 
No. 2 based on 5,000,000 cubic yards per year at 25,000 mg/1. BOD's. 
36 
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