Strategy for Monitoring of Contaminant Distributions Resulting from Proposed Sewage Sludge Disposal at the 106-Mile Ocean Disposal Site

摘要

It has been proposed that future ocean disposal of sewage sludge from the US east coast be done at a site beyond the edge of the continental shelf. In anticipation of that, a monitoring strategy has been developed to determine the average spatial distribution of contamination. The strategy is an iterative series of measurements developed from models of sludge dispersion and settling which are based on characteristics of the disposal site and sewage sludge. Once disposal is initiated at the site, the strategy requires sampling the upper mixed layer at 26 stations, mostly within 100km of the site, and deployment of nera-bottom sediment traps along a line extending 300 km away from the site.