Before enactment of the Ocean Dumping Act, 
organochlorine wastes were disposed of on land, in 
the ocean, or by land incineration. The Act pro- 
hibited ocean dumping except in trace amounts. As 
a result, interest in incineration at sea has developed. 
Before 1974 EPA concluded that the Ocean Dump- 
ing Act did not apply to incineration, but in Septem- 
ber 1974 the agency reversed itself and asserted 
jurisdiction. In 1974, Shell Chemical Co. was issued 
research permits for ocean incineration. A subse- 
quent EPA report on the trials concluded that ocean 
incineration was an environmentally sound disposal 
method, compatible with the Act, and is now being 
permitted.***9 
Research and Monitoring 
Under the Ocean Dumping Act 
The 1970 CEQ report on ocean dumping indi- 
cated serious information gaps. The areas of needed 
research were identified: 
@ pathways of waste materials in marine ecosystems; 
@ basic chemical and physical processes in the 
oceans; 
@ identification of toxic chemicals and data on lethal, 
sublethal, and chronic long-term impacts on ma- 
rine organisms; 
© identification of marine pathogens; 
® development of alternatives to ocean dumping; 
e development of national and international pollu- 
tion monitoring systems.°° 
The Ocean Dumping Act of 1972 provided au- 
thority for undertaking the necessary research. 
NOAA and EPA are authorized under this Act to 
conduct related research: 
NOAA. Section 201.—Comprehensive and con- 
tinuing programs of monitoring and research on 
short-term ecological effects of dumping waste mate- 
rials into the ocean and the Great Lakes, in coordi- 
nation with the Secretary of the Department in which 
the Coast Guard is operating and the Administrator 
of the EPA. Section 202—Long-range effects of pol- 
lution, overfishing, and other man-induced changes 
to ocean ecosystems, in consultation with other ap- 
propriate Federal departments and agencies. Section 
203—Research aimed at ending or minimizing all 
ocean dumping within 5 years of the effective date 
of the Act (alternative research). 
EPA. Necessary research to provide for an ocean 
dumping permit system. 
The Corps of Engineers lacks legislative authority 
for research under the Act, however, it is engaged in 
related investigations under the 1970 Dredged Mate- 
tial Research Program, a provision of the Rivers 
and Harbors Act of 1970. Part of the Corps research 
“8 U.S. Congress, op. cit. note 32. 
“U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ocean Dumping in 
the U.S., 1970. 
® U.S. Council on Environmental Quality, op. cit. note 31. 
objective is to provide definitive information on en- 
vironmental impacts of disposal operations and the 
development of disposal alternatives, including con- 
sideration of dredge material as a manageable re- 
source.*' The Maritime Administration is also in- 
volved in work related to Section 203—development 
of a U.S. flag capability to incinerate toxic chemical 
wastes at sea. 
NOAA’s current program of ocean dumping re- 
search has two major elements: (1) the National 
Ocean Survey (NOS) Ocean Dumping Program and 
(2) the related research being conducted by the 
Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) New York 
Bight Project. NOS carries out NOAA’s responsi- 
bilities under the terms of the March 1975 EPA/ 
NOAA Interagency. Agreement Regarding Ocean 
Dumpsite Investigations. 
NOS is now involved in four major areas of in- 
vestigations: (1) industrial waste deepwater dump- 
sites in the Gulf of Mexico, (2) deepwater dumpsite 
106, (3) dumping of pharmaceutical waste off Puerto 
Rico, and (4) dredge material dumpsites in the Mis- 
sissippi River Delta area. 
A NOAA/Corps of Engineers interagency agree- 
ment is in preparation and should be completed 
early in 1978. The agreement will ensure that 
NOAA’s efforts under Title II will also provide in- 
formation needed by the Corps for dumpsite evalu- 
ation and management required under Title I. 
A third interagency agreement between NOAA 
and the Coast Guard will also be executed early in 
1978. It will ensure that NOAA’s programs of 
monitoring and research, while aiding in fulfillment 
of NOAA’s Title TI mandate, will also provide in- 
formation required by EPA for site evaluation and 
management, and will provide for a NOAA/USCG 
coordination in a program of monitoring ocean dis- 
posal sites. 
The MESA New York Bight Project began field 
work in 1973. Project objectives include descriptions 
of the New York Bight ecosystem and areas near 
existing and proposed dumpsites, and determination 
of the occurrence, fate, and effects of pollutants enter- 
ing the Bight.°? °* MESA long-term studies include: 
® chemical and mineralogical composition of pollu- 
tants and their interactions with seawater; 
® seasonally occurring low-density, carbon mud 
patches off Long Island—their derivation and 
movement; 
® remote surveillance and monitoring; and 
© usefulness of various sensing and interpretative 
techniques. 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, op. cit. note 38. 
"2 U.S. Congress, op. cit. note 32. 
*3U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and At- 
mospheric Administration. Report to the Congress on Ocean 
Pollution, Overfishing, and Offshore Development, July 1975 
through September 1976. Washington, D.C., Government Print- 
ing Office, November 1977. 
VI-14 
