Water quality criteria may vary from State to State, and even within 

 a single State, reflecting natural conditions and the intended use to be 

 made of the receiving water. The standards include criteria for the 

 physical and microbiological properties of water and the inorganic and 

 organic chemicals. These water properties, constituents, and pollutants, 

 are described by parameters such as turbidity, settleable and dissolved 

 solids, temperatures, pH, coliform bacteria, dissolved oxygen, toxic sub- 

 stances, chemicals, and oil. The desired standards vary according to the 

 intended use of the water body, whether it is for recreation, navigation, 

 fish and wildlife propagation, or drinking. No similar standards exist for 

 the quality of sediments, even though cumulative effects may change this 

 quality drastically over the long term. 



Chemical criteria should be used with care. Chemical properties are 

 indicative of water quality at the time of sampling, and are not indica- 

 tive of past or long-term conditions. Similarly, their use as indices of 

 environmental stress may be misleading, since their presence is not static. 

 According to Butcher (1955) , environmental stress can be best judged by 

 determination of biological conditions rather than measurement of chemical 

 properties. The absence of established criteria on water quality may 

 necessitate the use of biological indicators. Such indicators may not be 

 sensitive enough to respond to dynamic short-term water quality changes, 

 and their use may be misleading. A combination, therefore, of chemical- 

 biological indices may be more appropriate. In the Bight, it can be 

 safely assumed, continuous ocean dumping has resulted in static water and 

 sediment conditions, and the use of biological indices may be justified. 



Two basic differences between water quality standards and sewage 

 effluent discharge limitations should be briefly explained. Water 

 quality standards apply to the natural aquatic environment of, and con- 

 ditions within, a body of waer; effluent discharge limitations apply 

 directly to the characteristics of wastes at the point of discharge into 

 a larger water body. Ocean dumping acitivies fall under the latter cate- 

 gory. The dumping grounds of the Bight can be considered as a mixing 

 zone which, (by EPA definition) is an area that may be unaviodably polluted 

 by mixing of discharged waters with the receiving waters. Materials dis- 

 charged at the dumping grounds are not all liquid, but the analogy holds. 

 According to EPA, (EPA, 1972) mixing zones have defined and identifiable 

 limits, and the waters outside of the zones must meet the standards for 

 that particular body of water. No provision has been made for water and 

 sediment quality limits within the mixing zone, but it is generally assumed 

 that concentrations of certain chemical species far exceed permissible 

 limits of other aquatic environments. 



Water and sediment characteristics of the Bight waste disposal grounds 

 and surrounding water are influenced directly the the character of the 

 waste itself. As expected, mechanical dilution and mixing of these wastes 

 with sea water and sediments, significantly reduce concentrations of certain 

 constituents. Even though the volume of the receiving waters far surpasses 



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