Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 - Ocean Dumping Before Enactment

Ocean Dumping Before Enactment

For much of history, the ocean was used generally as a dumping ground for many types of waste such as garbage, acid rain and toxins. One area off the coast of New Jersey was used in the beginning of the 19th century as a disposal area for sewage sludge. This area is now known as the "12-Mile Dumping Ground," and has a large amount of toxic metals. Divers are still advised to avoid the area due to the high level of refuse materials and toxins. Because ocean contaminants know no boundaries, there have been international and regional parameters established over the last 39 years. These regulations consist of regional treaties and conventions related to local marine pollution problems and international conventions that provide a standardized control of worldwide marine pollution. In the early 1970s the United States endorsed the MSRPA to regulate any waste disposal in marine waters that are within U.S. jurisdiction.

The 12 Mile Dumping Ground was the main dump site for all of New York City's sewage waste, over six million tons annually. As such, this is a good area to avoid, both for fishermen and divers. The entire area is contaminated with toxic sludge and heavy metals, which forms a layer of poisonous black muck over everything. The 12 Mile dump was closed in 1987, after 63 years of operation. The average depth is about 100 feet. The area is slowly recovering.

The mud buoy marks the site of the 2.2 square-mile Mud Dump ( officially, the New York Bight Dredged Material Disposal Site. ) For over a century this was the disposal site for sediments dredged from New York Harbor and surrounding areas. The area is contaminated with PCBs, dioxin, petrochemicals, and lord-knows-what-else that accumulated on the floor of the harbor and was then dug out. So much mud has been dumped here - over 200 million cubic yards - that it actually forms a mound above the surrounding bottom. However, not all of the harbor dredgings actually ended up inside the dump site, due to navigational errors and natural dispersal by the sea, so that the contaminated area is much larger than indicated. The average depth in this vicinity is 60–70 feet. The Mud Dump site was officially closed in 1996, but was re-opened in 1997 by the Army Corps of Engineers as the greatly expanded "Historic Area Remediation Site" or HARS ( 15.7 square nautical miles, outlined in yellow on the chart. ) Different sections of the HARS are slated for different types and amounts of material, and small no-dumping zones are defined around several known shipwrecks, ostensibly to avoid burying them. The dredge material that is being dumped into the HARS site is supposedly cleaner than what was previously placed there, and thus will form a "remedial cap" about one meter thick over the old pollutants.

The Acid Grounds was a dump site for acid and alkaline wastes, which was closed in 1988. The average depth is 90–100 feet. "the Acid Dump was, as far as I know, used exclusively by National Lead Co. of South Amboy, when that firm existed on the Raritan River on the west side of the Driscoll (Parkway) Bridge. Further to the south, the Wood-burning dump site was a location where barge-loads of wooden timbers were taken, burned, and then the ashes were dumped. The wood that was disposed of here was too contaminated with creosote and chemicals to be recycled or disposed of on-shore. One would expect ashes to float away on the currents, but any unburned materials would probably sink to the bottom, and it was not unheard-of to have loads of wood dumped before they were completely burned.The 106 Mile or Deepwater dump site received industrial waste and sewage until 1991. Since this site is almost 100 miles offshore, and several thousand feet deep, it is of little concern to divers. The Mud Hole has also been used as a dumping ground, most likely for just plain old garbage.

There are no complete records of how much material and what type of materials were dumped in the United States before the MPRSA, many reports give some ideas of the magnitude of ocean dumping and its effects. For example, a 1970 Report to the President from the Council on Environmental Quality identified the ocean disposal, in 1968, of 38 million tons of dredged material, 4.5 million tons of industrial wastes(which, according to the report, was 34 percent polluted), 4.5 million tons of sewage sludge (which was significantly contaminated with heavy metals), and 0.5 million tons of construction and demolition debris. In 1949, the oxygen concentration in near bottom waters (determined as percent saturation), in the sewage sludge dump site in the New York Bight, declined from 61 percent in 1949 to 29 percent, measured at the limits of the dump area, and 10 percent, measured in the center of the site, in 1969. The decrease in oxygen concentration indicated that dumping could result in rapid and substantial degradation of marine water quality and ecosystems. In 1968, the National Academy of Sciences estimated the annual release to the marine environment, from both dumping and disposal (through a pipe), of 100 million tons of petroleum products, two to four million tons of acid chemical wastes from pulp mills, more than one million tons of heavy metals in industrial wastes, and more than 100,000 tons of organic chemical wastes. EPA records indicate that between 1946 and 1970, more than 55,000 containers of radioactive wastes were ocean dumped at three ocean dump sites in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, almost 34,000 containers of radioactive wastes were ocean dumped at three dump sites off the East Coast of the United States from 1951 to 1962. No permits for low-level radioactive waste have been issued since the passage of the MPRSA in 1972. The dumping of sewage sludge, industrial wastes, and high-level radioactive wastes is now prohibited by the MPRSA. Other ocean dumping, such as wood burning and the dumping of low-level radioactive wastes and construction and demolition debris, has stopped as a matter of environmentally sound practice.