217 
There are other people, however, who believe that the studies do indi- 
cate that this is indeed occurring, what we call the fines, silts, clays, and 
organic debris, are carried onto the shores of Long Island. We have 
found large amounts, particularly this year, of material floating fol- 
lowing a dump. I have color slides which I believe will illustrate this 
very well. This material may indeed be washing on the shores. I re- 
cently read in our local papers that the summer resort industry from 
Sandy Hook to Atlantic City is a $2 billion industry. If indeed this is 
true and a portion of it is being despoiled by these dumping activities, 
obviously some consideration will have to be given to moving the 
dumping sites. This will have to be in large part the responsibility of 
Congress and the appropriate State officials. If indeed this is happen- 
ing, then it suggests that the dump site has to be moved, if only as an 
interim measure. 
We have studied an area offshore, which has already been men- 
tioned and have made several collecting trips there. This is the area 
beyond the so-called 20-fathom line or water 120 feet and deeper. It 
is somewhat to the east of the present dumping area and is an area 
where there does not appear to be a substantial abundance of marine 
life when compared with the waters closer in shore; it does not appear 
to contain large numbers of surf clams, other clams and crustaceans 
of great economic importance. It may be possible that if the material 
is appropriately dumped, that is if the sludge is dumped over a much 
larger area, rather than being required to be disposed of at just one 
particular spot, the material might be spread out much further over 
the surface of the bottom, and would also be passed through a larger 
water mass. This might have the net effect of reducing the immediate 
effects of sewer sludge disposal. 
The other questions I am frequently asked at hearmgs and other 
places is what will happen, once pollution abatement has occurred ? 
No matter what you do with the sludge in future years, what will 
happen to the area that has already been impoverished of natural 
life? There are only a few studies of the consequences of pollution 
abatement throughout the whole world. I am coordinator of a pro- 
gram in the International Biological Program (IBP). This program 
is somewhat comparable to the International Geophysical Year. I am 
therefore privy to research underway and completed throughout the 
world and to date I have found only one or two studies of marine 
environments following pollution abatement. One of these studies 
has recently come out as a publication from the University of Miami 
Press. It is done by a marine scientist, Dr. McNulty. He reports that 
for many years sewage was dumped directly from the city of Miami 
into Biscayne Bay. Then some years ago they started piping it further 
offshore, putting it in the Gulf Stream. The idea is that this material 
is dispersed into the Gulf Stream. Once they started to discharge the 
sewage outside of Biscayne Bay into the open ocean, McNulty 
initiated a study. He found that even though certain changes do occur 
the area had not recovered completely several years after the termina- 
tion of sewage dumping in Biscayne Bay. There were still fish that 
used to be represented there that were no longer to be found in the 
area. He makes a very definite statement in the abstract and conclu- 
sion of this small book that the alleviation of dumping has not com- 
