"solution to pollution is dilution"; "out of sight, out of mind"

ocean value

• major importance in carbon dioxide cycling; help regulate global warming
• cycle other nutrients: nitrogen and phosphorus
• resource of food and minerals

federal legislation and regulation enacted in 1972: reduced the number of ocean dumping sites; however, ocean dumping continues to degrade the oceanic environment

furthermore, if population growth in coastal regions continue, increased amounts of wastes will end up in the oceans

types of wastes:

• dredge spoils - industrial and municipal discharges removed to generally improve navigation
• industrial wastes - acids, refinery wastes, paper mill wastes, pesticide wastes, and assorted liquid wastes
• sewage sludge - solid material that remains after municipal wastewater treatment
• construction and demolition debris - cinder block, plaster, excavation  dirt, stone, tile, and other materials
• solid waste - refuse, garbage, or trash, explosive, radioactive  wastes, and untreated urban sewage

ocean pollution: health hazard; shellfish have been found to contain organisms that produce diseases such as polio and hepatitis and at least 20% of the nation's commercial shellfish beds have been closed because of pollution; beaches and bays have been closed to recreation uses; effects on ocean life:

• marine organisms - result in death or retarded growth, vitality, and reproductivity
• reduction in the DO (dissolved oxygen) - increased BOD as a result of decomposition of organic waste lowers the O2 content necessary for marine life
• eutrophication - caused by nutrient-rich waste in shallow waters resulting in killing algae that may wash up and pollute coastal areas

                                                [trophic cycle]
 
 
 
 

• habitat change - may change entire marine ecosystems

e.g. major ecosystems such as coral reefs, estuaries, and salt marshes and mangrove swamps are threaten by ocean pollution; oceans are giant sinks for materials from the continents, and parts of the marine environment are extremely fragile

effects on marine organisms in the upper ocean water: upper few mm of the ocean tend to concentrate pollutants, such as toxic chemicals and heavy metals; one study reported that concentrations of heavy metals in the upper 3 mm are from 10-1000x higher than in the deeper waters; the base of the food chain consists of planktonic life abundant in the upper 3 mm of the ocean water

effects on humans: contaminated marine organisms may transmit toxic elements or diseases to people who eat them; also there is a loss of visual appeal when beaches and bay become polluted
 

ocean dumping:  the conflict

ocean areas near the shore are most subject to ocean dumping and most desirable as fisheries

e.g. Los Angeles: for more than 30 years, sewage and sludge have been dumped several miles offshore into Santa Monica Bay; rate of flow was about 400 M gallons per day, which only about 15% had secondary treatment; LA successfully fought state and federal regulations  to avoid providing secondary treatment for all sewage; the bay became seriously polluted by the sewage and by other waste disposal dating back to the 1940s - oil refinery wastes, cyanide, and PCBs; concerns over potential health-related issues have forced LA to spend $172 M for secondary treatment
 

dredge spoils

represents the vast majority of all ocean dumping; conducted to primarily improve navigation; usually disposed of only a few km away; about 1/3 is seriously polluted with heavy metals and other industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastes;

organic pollutants are adsorbed to the organic portion of the sediment; polarity (hydrophilic) vs. non-polarity (hydrophobic)
 
 

long range alternative to disposal of dredge spoils is phase out ocean disposal, it is not currently possible to do so because of the volume of sediment involved