Status report—Phase out of ocean dumping of sewage sludge in the New York Bight Apex

Abstract

During 1985, nine municipalities disposed of sewage sludges at the 12-Mile dumpsite within the New York Bight Apex. In April 1985 the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final denial of petitions to re-designate the 12-Mile Site and concommittantly requested the municipalities to submit schedules for transfering their operations to the 106 Deepwater Municipal Sludge Disposal Site (DMSDS) to receive these wastes. With the shift to this new site long term municipal sludge disposal will occur beyond the Continental Shelf for the first time in the United States. Negotiations between EPA and the municipalities in 1985 resulted in a schedule for beginning use of the 106-Mile Site in March 1986. The complete phase-out of sludge dumping in the New York Bight Apex is scheduled to end 15 December, 1987. The key decision (fleet capacities, dumping volumes, etc.) leading to the final negotiated schedules are discussed.