100,000 metric tons of oxygen—demanding
carbon disposed of each year as '
waste were about 19 times the amount that would be produced by natural bio.
logical processes
in the dumping area, about 35 square nautical miles in size.
_
To put the scale of the dumping operation
in perspective, the annual total
;;
of at least 8.6 million tons of solid material in dredging, construction, sewage —
‘
sludge, and acid wastes dumped in western Long Island Sound and in the
New York Eight during 1964—1968 was the largest single sediment source rn
the eastern coast of the United States then. Put another way, the entire New
York metropolitan region produced about 1200 tous of solid wastes per
square kilometer of area each year during that period—an
amount that ex—
ceeded the sediment yield per
unit of drainage area in any major North
American river basin [38]. This provides another indication that industrial—
E‘*;ï
ized societies now rearrange large quantities of materials to a degree once re—
served for nature.
-
Marine studies begun in 1968 by scientists at the Sandy Hook Marine
Laboratory in New jersey in a joint study With other agencies demonstrated
the extent to which the various wastes in the New York Eight harmed ocean
life. The sewage sludge had spread north from the designated dumping
ground until it covered an area of more than 14 square miles. The heavier
dredging wastes dispersed over a smaller area—about seven square miles. Dis—
solved oxygen in
near—bottom water over the sewage sludge site was fre—
quently below 2 ppm from late july to mid—September, a level not high
Ï;
enough to sustain marine life in laboratory experiments [39]. In the polluted
:
areas, bottom-dwelling marine organisms longer than one millimeter were
-
completely absent
or were found only in greatly reduced numbers in.comparison With numbers in nearby uncontaminated regions. In the sewage
sludge area, not even usually polluüon—tolerant marine worms could survive.
A study of minute bottom organisms lessthah one millimeter in length dis—
closed the same trend: One sample from the center of the dredging spoils site
Ï
“had only nine Species; another, only two—a decrease in species diversity fr0m
«
that found elsewhere in the New York Eight
.
In regard to larger shellsh, the: rock crabs found in other areas were sel— "
dom discovered in the waste disposal areas. Adult crabs that were in the
waste beds fre(luently Were diseased or near death, an indication of the haz—
ard to crabs and lobsters that crosèed the wastesites during their seasonal mn
grations
inshore to “offshore water. In laboratory experiments, lobsters ’
and crabs placed in aquaria containing seWage sludge were aficted with
wounds on their shells and their gills bæame fouled With granular material.
Flounder and ling (bottom—dwelling sh) caught in the vicinity of the sew,.
age sludge disposal area “had been feeding on smaller bottom organisms.
Stomach analysis showed that the sh also had taken in hair, bandaids seeds,
and cigarette lters from the sludge. Some ounders had black .gills, a,CÔndi-Ÿ '
tion that was reproduced experimentally in healthy sh kept in aquaria with
‘
sludge.
Levels of nickel, chromium, and léadin several sh exceeded amounts
consrdered normal for ‘mafîe'anünals—possiblÿ an indication that metals
'
82
Ocean Trial
f
_
carbon disposed of each year as '
waste were about 19 times the amount that would be produced by natural bio.
logical processes
in the dumping area, about 35 square nautical miles in size.
_
To put the scale of the dumping operation
in perspective, the annual total
;;
of at least 8.6 million tons of solid material in dredging, construction, sewage —
‘
sludge, and acid wastes dumped in western Long Island Sound and in the
New York Eight during 1964—1968 was the largest single sediment source rn
the eastern coast of the United States then. Put another way, the entire New
York metropolitan region produced about 1200 tous of solid wastes per
square kilometer of area each year during that period—an
amount that ex—
ceeded the sediment yield per
unit of drainage area in any major North
American river basin [38]. This provides another indication that industrial—
E‘*;ï
ized societies now rearrange large quantities of materials to a degree once re—
served for nature.
-
Marine studies begun in 1968 by scientists at the Sandy Hook Marine
Laboratory in New jersey in a joint study With other agencies demonstrated
the extent to which the various wastes in the New York Eight harmed ocean
life. The sewage sludge had spread north from the designated dumping
ground until it covered an area of more than 14 square miles. The heavier
dredging wastes dispersed over a smaller area—about seven square miles. Dis—
solved oxygen in
near—bottom water over the sewage sludge site was fre—
quently below 2 ppm from late july to mid—September, a level not high
Ï;
enough to sustain marine life in laboratory experiments [39]. In the polluted
:
areas, bottom-dwelling marine organisms longer than one millimeter were
-
completely absent
or were found only in greatly reduced numbers in.comparison With numbers in nearby uncontaminated regions. In the sewage
sludge area, not even usually polluüon—tolerant marine worms could survive.
A study of minute bottom organisms lessthah one millimeter in length dis—
closed the same trend: One sample from the center of the dredging spoils site
Ï
“had only nine Species; another, only two—a decrease in species diversity fr0m
«
that found elsewhere in the New York Eight
.
In regard to larger shellsh, the: rock crabs found in other areas were sel— "
dom discovered in the waste disposal areas. Adult crabs that were in the
waste beds fre(luently Were diseased or near death, an indication of the haz—
ard to crabs and lobsters that crosèed the wastesites during their seasonal mn
grations
inshore to “offshore water. In laboratory experiments, lobsters ’
and crabs placed in aquaria containing seWage sludge were aficted with
wounds on their shells and their gills bæame fouled With granular material.
Flounder and ling (bottom—dwelling sh) caught in the vicinity of the sew,.
age sludge disposal area “had been feeding on smaller bottom organisms.
Stomach analysis showed that the sh also had taken in hair, bandaids seeds,
and cigarette lters from the sludge. Some ounders had black .gills, a,CÔndi-Ÿ '
tion that was reproduced experimentally in healthy sh kept in aquaria with
‘
sludge.
Levels of nickel, chromium, and léadin several sh exceeded amounts
consrdered normal for ‘mafîe'anünals—possiblÿ an indication that metals
'
82
Ocean Trial
f
_