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IV. Unvironmental Impact of the Proposed Convention 



It is difficult, if not impossible, to express tlie probable environmental impact 

 of the subject Convention in quantitative terms, since the precise effects will 

 depend ou the number of States tUat ultimately participate in the Convention, 

 the manner in which they carry out their responsibilities under the Conven- 

 tion, and the nature of the ocean diuuping activities that they might have en- 

 gaged in the absence of a Convention. 



Une way to try to assess the overall environmental effects of the proposed 

 Convention is to tii-st describe in general terms, some of the effects that have 

 been anticipated if ocean dumping were allowed to continue, without any re- 

 straints and at ever increasing rates over the next several years. This is done 

 in the following paragraphs and these impliqations also were extensively dis- 

 cussed from the standpoint of U.S. operations in the October 1970 reix)rt to the 

 President of the Council ou Environmental Quality entitled "Ocean Dumping — 

 A ^.ational Policy". This diiscussion is then followed with an analysis of some 

 of the environmental effects of specific substances tli.at have been a particular 

 basis for concern. 



A. Effects of Unregulated Ocean Dumping 



The oceans are being used continually as receptacles for sizeable quantities 

 of wastes dumped from vessels at sea. The report of the Council on Environ- 

 mental Qu.ality indicated that over 48 million tons of waste materials were 

 dumped in one year from U.S. sources alone. Based on past dumping, and on 

 projected population and development trends, the CEQ concluded that, if im- 

 regulated, such dumping in the seas would probably increase substantially in 

 the foreseeable future. Moreover, ,and perhaps more significantly, the report 

 stated that some wastes have been disposed of either in concentrations at toxic- 

 itj' levels or in compositions that ha\e been a basis for increasing concern. 



1. Types of Alutenals Bumped. — Dredge spoils account for approximately S0% 

 by weight of all material dumi>ed by the U.S. at sea. These spoils consists of 

 sediments dredged to improve and maintain navigation channels, and contain 

 alluvial sand, silt, clay and municipal or industrial waste sludges. Within the 

 United States, the U.S. Corps of Engineers has estimated that over one-third 

 of these .spoils contain pollutants from industrial, municipal and agricultural 

 sources, including toxic heavy metals and waste substances capable of substan- 

 tially reducing the oxygen content of receiving waters. The CEQ estimated that 

 the demands of increasing marine commerce, including a need for new deep- 

 water harbors and deeper existing channels, would probably increase the amount 

 of dredge spoils dumi^ed at sea over the next decades. 



Industrial wastes constitute about 10% of dumped materials within the U.S. 

 These wastes originate from a variety of manufacturing and processing opera- 

 tions, including petroleum refining, steel and paper production, pigment process- 

 ing, iusecticide-herbicide-fungicide manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, oil- 

 well drilling operations, and metal finishing, cleaning and plating processes. Over 

 50% of these materials are waste acids from steel mills and other manufactur- 

 ing operations ; over 10% are refinery wastes, which may contain toxic amounts 

 of cyanides, heavy metals and chlorinated hydrocarbons ; 30% are wastes from 

 pulp and paper mills, containing "black liquor" and other potentially toxic or- 

 ganic constituents ; and much of the remainder consists of wastes from chemi- 

 cal manufacturing plants and laboratories, which may contain arsenical and 

 mercuric compounds and other toxic chemicals. Since the rate of increase of 

 industrial production in the develop^ countries generally exceeds population 

 growth, and since a substantial projjortion of the world's industrial production 

 occurs near marine areas, the volume of dumping of industrial wastes, if un- 

 regulated, was estimated by CEQ to increase substantially over the years. 



Sewage sludge, the solid by-product of municipal waste water treatment, 

 accounts for nearly 10% of U.S. dumped wastes. Thus sludge generally contains 

 significant concentrations of oxygen-demanding organic materials, and may 

 contain pathogens and quantities of copper, zinc, barium, manganese, and 

 molybdenum, depending upon the type of waste water treatment and the degree 

 to whicli domestic and industrial contaminants have entered the .system. The 

 CEQ has projected substantial increases in the amounts of sewage sludge likely 

 to be dumped in future years, and has estimated that coastal dumpings from 

 U.S. sources will increa.se from 1.4 million tons in 1970 to about 2.1 million tons 

 in 2000. 



