>t ae iia 
159 
The advisory committee concurred, that even at the interim stage 
of the Sandy Hook study, the data were convincing that an approxi- 
mately 14 square mile sewage dumping area and a 7 square mile 
dredge spoil site were severely impoverished. 
A more significant contribution to the pollution of New York 
Bight than ocean disposal operations is the discharge from sewer out- 
falls in the area. This discharge averages nearly 2 billion gallons per 
day and varies in quality from effluents receiving no treatment to 
those which receive something more than primary treatment. 
In New York Harbor, for example, 16 percent of the flow receives 
no treatment, 27 percent primary treatment and the remaining 57 
pereent something more than primary treatment. 
When comparing the biological oxvgen demands, BOD (a very 
rough index of ecological impact). of the sewer discharge to the 
sludge dumping in the New York Harbor area it appears that the 
BOD of the former is approximately twice the value of the BOD 
contributed by sludge dumping. 
T must point out that biological oxygen demand is only a crude 
measure and in no sense reflects potential problems caused by toxic 
wastes nor does it provide any indication of possible synergistic ef- 
fects resulting from the mixture of wastes from different sources. 
What is inescapably clear, however, is that fact that an enormous 
amount of waste material is entering the ocean every day, not only 
from New York and its environs, but from every portion of our coast 
line. Population projections we have all seen point to the conclusion 
that this already serious problem will grow even more critical in the 
near future unless action is taken promptly. 
The problem of pollution of our coastal areas largely results from 
our increased technical capacity and our growing affluence. It is my 
personal belief that these same factors can be turned toward solving 
the problems they have created. 
We do have the technical capability to handle the continued deg- 
radation of our environment, however, solving the pollution problem 
requires more than engineering capacity alone. 
The environmental system is sufficiently complex so that oftentimes 
solutions developed for the pollution problem in one part of the sys- 
tem, results in unexpected damage elsewhere. A typical example of 
this was provided by the rules and regulations against the open burn- 
ing of trash and debris in the city and county of Baltimore which 
went into effect about a year ago. 
The intent of the ban was to improve the quality of the air in the 
area, and as such the ban was applauded by virtually everyone con- 
cerned with the problem of environmental degradation. 
Now, a major marine industry of Baltimore is marine commerce. 
About 5,000 ships a year enter the harbor, many of them bring cargo 
which is held in place by lumber. When the cargo is unloaded, the 
lumber is put ashore. Before the open burning ban, there were com- 
panies that picked up this lumber and it was burnt. After the han, 
there were no companies who would take the lumber. which is just 
scrap. There is no solid waste disposal facility available, no place to 
burn it and hence the lumber is simply thrown overboard and has 
presented a grave problem of floating debris in Baltimore Harbor. 
