Ocean Dumping of Industrial Wastes, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1981 Marine Science Series, Vol. 12

In recent years there has been an increased realization that the casual disposal of wastes can lead to a deterioration in environmen­ tal quality with substantial impacts on society. The management of waste disposal practices must consider the various alternatives of discharging and decomposing wastes on land, in the atmosphere, and in the marine environment. Up until 1972 ocean dumping was used increasingly to dispose of sewage sludge, industrial wastes, and dredged material. In subsequent years regulations were developed to reduce and minimize ocean dumping. These regulations were prompted often by ignorance of the possible effects of waste disposal in the ocean rather than by knowledge that such ocean dumping was detrimen­ tal to the marine environment or to man. The relationship between waste disposal and the oceans can be viewed in either of two ways. One may want to assure that waste disposal procedures do not alter adversely the marine environment, or one may choose to utilize the ocean as a waste depository to reduce the burden placed on the con­ tinental ecosystem and on the atmosphere. From either perspective it is essential that there be an adequate base of technical information to assess the fate and effects of wastes introduced to the ocean. A series of original technical papers has been compiled in this book to present some of the recent results of research on industrial waste disposal in the ocean.

Ocean Dumping Research: Historical and International Development.- Industrial Ocean Dumping in EPA Region II — Regulatory Aspects.- Ocean Dumping: History, Control, and Biological Impact.- The Effects of Ocean Dumping on the New York Bight Ecosystem.- II Physical Aspects of Ocean Dumping.- Physical Variability at an East Coast United States Offshore Dumpsite.- An Analysis of Dumpsite Diffusion Experiments.- Horizontal Diffusion in Ocean Dumping Experiments.- Dispersion of Particulates in the Ocean Studied Acoustically: The Importance of Gradient Surfaces in the Ocean.- Application of Remote Sensing to Monitoring and Studying Dispersion in Ocean Dumping.- Remote Sensing of Ocean-Dumped Waste Drift and Dispersion.- III Chemical Aspects of Ocean Dumping.- Transition and Heavy Metals Associated with Acid-Iron Waste Disposal at Deep Water Dumpsite 106.- Waste Material Behavior and Inorganic Geochemistry at the Puerto Rico Waste Dumpsite.- Chemical and Biological Aspects of Ocean Dumping at the Puerto Rico Dumpsite.- Chemical Characterization of Ocean-Dumped Waste Materials.- Ocean Disposal of Organochlorine Wastes by At-Sea Incineration.- Stabilized Power Plant Scrubber Sludge and Fly Ash in the Marine Environment.- Chemical and Physical Processes in a Dispersing Sewage Sludge Plume.- IV Biological Aspects of Ocean Dumping.- The Bacterial Bioassay and Laboratory Assessments of Waste Disposal Activities at DWD-106.- The Effects of Industrial Wastes on Marine Phytoplankton.- The Effects of Pollutants on Marine Zooplankton at Deep Water Dumpsite 106: Preliminary Findings.- Gross and Microscopic Observations on some Biota from Deep Water Dumpsite 106.- Toxicity of Biosludge and Pharmaceutical Wastes to Marine Invertebrates.- Metabolic Sensitivity of Fish to Ocean Dumping of Industrial Wastes.- Preliminary Studies of Responses of Fish to Complex Pharmaceutical and Petrochemical Wastes.- Effects of Ocean Dumping on a Temperate Midshelf Environment.- V Future Prospects of Ocean Dumping.- Future Prospects of Ocean Dumping.- VI. INDEX.