contaminated dredged material definition

4.5 million tons of sewage sludge (significantly contaminated with heavy metals), and.38 million tons of dredged material (34 percent of which was polluted),.A 1970 Report to the President from the Council on Environmental Quality on ocean dumping described that in 1968 the following were dumped in the ocean in the United States:.more than 100,000 tons of organic chemical wastes.more than one million tons of heavy metals in industrial wastes and.two to four million tons of acid chemical wastes from pulp mills.100 million tons of petroleum products.In 1968, the National Academy of Sciences estimated annual volumes of ocean dumping by vessel or pipes:.Wastes were frequently dumped in coastal and ocean waters based on the assumption that marine waters had an unlimited capacity to mix and disperse wastes.Īlthough no complete records exist of the volumes and types of materials disposed in ocean waters in the United States prior to 1972, several reports indicate a vast magnitude of historic ocean dumping:

Even less attention was focused on opportunities to recycle or reuse such materials. Little attention was given to the negative impacts of waste disposal on the marine environment. In the past, communities around the world used the ocean for waste disposal, including the disposal of chemical and industrial wastes, radioactive wastes, trash, munitions, sewage sludge, and contaminated dredged material. What was dumped into the ocean before 1972? Where can I learn more about EPA’s Ocean Dumping Management Program?.How have ocean protections improved since enactment of the 1972 MPRSA?.What materials cannot be dumped into the ocean?.What materials are dumped into the ocean today?.Besides EPA, what are other federal agencies’ roles with respect to ocean dumping?.

Why is regulating ocean dumping important? How does EPA help protect the ocean?.

What is the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act?.

What was dumped into the ocean before 1972?.

Please join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the MPRSA by exploring this interactive StoryMap about the MPRSA and how EPA protects human health and the environment from pollution caused by ocean dumping.

Contaminated dredged material definition