Contact: Dane Konop FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/10/96
A team of university and government scientists will use the deep-diving submersible Alvin through June 16 to study the long-term effects of sewage sludge deposited on the seafloor at the 106-mile Deepwater Municipal Disposal Site off the New York-New Jersey coast, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
Research at the 106-Mile Site, ongoing since 1989, has provided the first accurate view of what has happened since sludge dumping began, and for a short time after dumping was terminated.
Observations collected during the upcoming series of submersible dives will greatly improve the interpretation of data collected in 1992 and 1993.
"All the evidence to date indicates that sludge material reached the bottom in significant amounts slightly west of the rectangular surface discharge area, and that it had significant effects on larger animals on the sea floor, such as brittlestars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, as well as bottom dwelling organisms living within the sediment. Studies in 1992 and 1993 have shown that the effects of sludge dumping appeared to be abating in 1992, at least in the vicinity of the dumpsite," said Barbara S. P. Moore, acting director of NOAAžs National Undersea Research Program in Silver Spring, Md., which sponsored the Alvin cruise.
"However, in contrast to the improving situation at the dumpsite, preliminary samples from 50 nautical miles south of the dumpsite indicate a deterioration of habitats there. Thus, the recovery at the dumpsite may be accompanied by a deterioration of habitats to the south, the direction of the prevailing bottom currents. In addition, it is very important to evaluate the preliminary evidence that material may simply be shifting to the south," she said.
"It is important to remember that in the mid- to late 1980s, when the debate over ocean dumping was ongoing, it was argued that moving the disposal site farther off shore to deeper water would be safer because the waste would disperse before it reached the bottom. Our current research clearly disproves that argument," Moore said.
The site is located on the continental rise 106 miles off the New York-New Jersey coast, encompassing 81 square miles, in waters 7-8,000 feet deep. Approximately 36 million wet tons of sewage sludge were disposed at the site from March 1986 to July 1992, a rate of about 8 million tons per year. The sludge dumping that occurred from 1986 to 1992 created a unique, albeit unwelcome, opportunity for deep-sea scientists to evaluate the impact of sludge disposal over the deep ocean. In response, the Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences and the Mid-Atlantic Bight National Undersea Research Center established a long-term ecosystem observatory study site, centered on the sludge-disposal site at a depth of 7,500 feet.
The research team includes investigators from Rutgers University, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and the U.S. Geological Survey's Branch of Atlantic Marine Geology. The research is funded by NOAA's National Undersea Research Program through a grant to the Mid-Atlantic Bight Undersea Research Center at Rutgers University.
The following scientists are principal investigators of the NOAA Alvin cruise: J. Frederick Grassle, Paul V. R. Snelgrove, and Rosemarie F. Petrecca, Rutgers University; Michael H. Bothner, U.S.G.S., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Frederick L. Sayles, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; and Cindy Lee Van Dover, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Alvin is a research submersible operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding from NOAA and the U.S. Navy. With a pilot and two scientists, Alvin can dive to depths of about 14,000 feet to collect samples and make direct observations and measurements. Alvin has four viewing ports, video and still cameras, and one six-function and one seven- function mechanical arm for collecting and handling samples, plus scanning sonar for navigation.
###NOTE TO EDITORS: All NOAA press releases and links to other NOAA material can be found on the NOAA Public Affairs World Wide Web home page at http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs. Additional Web link: http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwnurc/nurp.html at Rutgers University.