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At the center of the dump areas where you find completely reduced 
conditions—the area mentioned as being completely biologically im- 
poverished—in an area of one square foot—our sampling device sam- 
ples an area of approximately one square foot, actually one-tenth of 
a square meter—we sometimes find 40 cellulose cigarette filters in a 
sample and no life. As you move away from the center of the dump- 
ing, we find that these human artifacts decline in number. 
Another material that is very common is seeds from oranges, toma- 
toes, and other produce. If you take a sample from the areas that are 
heavily polluted, you get literally hundreds of thousands of seeds. It is 
impossible to count them all in one sample, they are so numerous. This 
material contributes to the long-lasting organic pollution, that is, these 
seeds are resistant to being broken down. Once they are on the bottom, 
they remain there a long time. 
So, we have today been able to delineate, as the interim report men- 
tions, those areas which have been impinged upon by the sludge ma- 
terials and dredge spoil materials. 
In our current work we are trying to see if indeed the area is ex- 
tending. The samples we have been able to take since the interim 
report suggest that areas which 2 years ago were uncontaminated 
and unpolluted are now polluted. Unfortunately our study is ter- 
minating in August and no further field work will be possible. 
Another approach we have taken is that the study of very tiny 
crustaceans called amphipods. There are 30-some species of amphi- 
pods in the New York Bight. They are abundant in unpolluted en- 
vironments in the New York Bight and seem to be very sensitive to 
any form of pollution. Dr. Howard Sanders, working at Woods Hole, 
for instance, has found that the amphipods drop out of the popula- 
tions or communities before you can even detect oil pollution. They 
seem to be more sensitive than the most sensitive instrument we have 
to detect oil pollution. 
We are finding much the same thing in the New York Bight. If 
you start south of the dump area and progress north into the dump 
area taking samples along a line or a transect—I can show you on 
charts if you are interested—we initially find amphipods to be very 
numerous. Then as we move toward the dump area amphipods of all 
species, except one, drop out of the population. So, we use this di- 
versity index to indicate the consequences of pollution. 
This is our most recent evidence. As I say, our current findings 
indicate that, indeed, the dump area is expanding. There is no reason 
for us not to suspect this, actually. Dr. Grant Gross from the uni- 
versity of New York at Stony Brook, in a recent report said that the 
amounts of materials being dumped each year in the New York 
Bight, if rendered into a completely solid form, would be sufficient 
to cover the island of Manhattan to a depth of 6 inches. The island 
of Manhattan is a little over 20 square miles in its surface area. The 
sewage sludge and spoil dump area is also a little over 20 square 
miles in its surface area, and it is continually being impinged upon. 
In wintertime the temperatures are probably too low for very rapid 
bacterial reduction to occur; in the summer conditions may be un- 
satisfactory for complete reduction. So, one would expect this area 
to increase in size, particularly since it has been projected that the 
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