36 



What is your conclusion on the dumping of sulfuric acid in the 

 ocean ? 



Dr. Ketchum, I studied this 20 years ago. This was on the acid-iron 

 dump from the titanium plant in the New York bight. Seawater is 

 naturally a basic solution, and it has a considerable reserve of basic 

 materials, and Avithin a matter of 2 to 5 minutes, the acid is neutralized 

 and becomes a neutral salt of the sulfate ion and there is a great excess 

 of sulfate in seawater. 



We could not find any detriment so long as one took into account the 

 natural diluting processes in the ocean. I would be 



Senator Hollings. How about the heavy metals; would that have 

 any effect? 



Dr. Ketchum. It would. I would be leary about drinking a glass if 

 you sort of mixed it half-and-half in front of me, but I would not be 

 leary about utilizing it in seaw^ater — one does not drink much sea- 

 water, as a matter of fact — I would not be worried about the acidity 

 of the seawater within 100 yards or so behind the barge that is dis- 

 charging this material. 



Now, this waste material in the New York bight also contains 

 iron sulfate as the ferrous form, that is, the reduced fom of iron. 

 This is quickly oxidized in sea water to the ferric state, and we did 

 some studies showing that this might reduce the oxygen content of the 

 water, but again, because of the mixing, it rarely made more than 

 about a 10 percent difference at the worst conditions we could find in 

 the oxygen content. 



Ferric hydroxide which is formed does discolor the water. It can be 

 readily identified for many hours after the dump. It is not attractive 

 esthetically, but on the other hand, in the New York bight if you listen 

 to the fishermen radiowave bands, they talk about fishing the "acid 

 grounds" today, and it has turned out to be an effective place for blue 

 fishing. 



We have tried over the course of the 20 years, since I did the original 

 work, to see if we could explain how indeed there is better fishing 

 there, or whether it is just an identifiable spot in the middle of the 

 ocean that the fishermen refer to. 



We have been able to find no evidence thpt this is of any benefit to 

 the marine environment, but neither have we been able to find evidence 

 that it is detrimental. 



Senator Hollings. Thank you, sir. 



Dr. Ketchum. This diagram wdiich appears in my statement appears 

 to be complicated. If so, this is because we are talking about a complex 

 subject. 



I would like to briefly run through the things that I have tried to 

 incorporate in this diagram, which, incidentally, was prepared as a 

 part of a research needs report for the Water Quality Criteria Com- 

 mittee of the National Academy of Sciences, and will presumably 

 appear in that volume when it is published some time next fall. 



It emphasizes the source and amount of the material, the supply 

 route by wliich it reaches the environment, whether it is through river 

 flow, direct discharge, or atmospheric, and its effect on the marine 

 environment. 



There is a loop in the source and amount area, called a screening 

 mechanism. This is what I was referring to earlier, that we should 

 have both the jiroduction statistics and the information about the 



