Part
2, Sec. 2C8
Human Activities - Ocean Disposal Activities
8.
Ocean Disposal Activities
a.
General Disposal Activities
Between
the 1940's and the 1970's, numerous offshore areas throughout
Massachusetts Bay were used for the disposal of a variety of
industrial waste products (including canisters, construction
debris, derelict vessels, and radioactive waste). These activities
were largely unregulated and unrecorded.
Disposal
of low-level radioactive waste material was permitted at four
areas within Massachusetts Bay between 1953 and 1959, the most
frequently-used site being centered at 42°26.8'N and 70°35.0'W.
Such low-level wastes were normally generated by academic, commercial,
and medical institution sources (EPA 1980). Some radioactive
wastes were also disposed at this site during the period between
1946 and 1953; however, previous to 1952 disposal records were
not kept. Thus, specific description of disposed materials has
not as yet been possible (EPA, 1984).
In
1963, the U.S. Coast Guard deployed disposal marker "A" buoy
in the vicinity of the present Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site
(42°26.8'N X 70°35.0'W). At this time the area became
known as the Industrial Waste Site (IWS). Between 1963 and 1975,
this area was also authorized for disposal of toxic and hazardous
wastes. In 1975, at the request of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
and the Corps of Engineers, the IWS buoy marker was moved one
nautical mile east, to its present location (42°25.7'N
X 70°35.0'W).
b.
Dredged Material
In
1977, EPA promulgated its Ocean Dumping Regulations, and subsequently
granted "interim site designation" status to ocean disposal
sites which had been historically used (40 CFR 228). The disposal
area, now known as the Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site (MBDS),
was established over a two-nautical-mile-diameter circle (Figure
13) centered at 42°25.7'N X 70°35.0'W, and overlapped
the old IWS. The MBDS has alternatively been called the "Marblehead
Site" and the "Foul Area Disposal Site" (FADS). The name "Foul
Area" was used because disposed materials on the bottom would
tend to tear or "foul" fishermen's nets. Since 1977, the MBDS
has been used only for the disposal of dredged materials. Approximately
3,160,000 cubic yards of dredged material have been placed at
MBDS since 1975. Nearly all of these materials are generated
from dredging coastal harbors and waterways ranging from Rockport,
Massachusetts to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
In
1988, the COE prepared a site evaluation report using the criteria
for selection of ocean disposal sites (40 CFR §§ 228.5
and 228.6), and summarizing 15 years of site monitoring. In
September 1989, EPA published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement
on the continued use of the MBDS under a permanent ocean disposal
site designation. In response to public review comments, a Supplemental
EIS was prepared in July 1990 which more fully evaluates alternative
sites for dredged material disposal activities. The alternatives
analysis is being prepared using the guidelines prepared by
EPA and COE for dredged material site designation (EPA, 1986).
A zone of siting feasibility (ZSF) has been established to develop
a reasonable range of alternative sites. The following factors
are taken into consideration in establishing the ZSF: cost of
dredging, transport, and disposal; navigation restrictions;
distance to the edge of the continental shelf; existing political
boundaries; environmentally sensitive areas; and areas of incompatible
uses. The suitability of these alternative sites are evaluated
using the five general and eleven specific criteria for disposal
site designation (40 CFR §§ 228.5 and 228.6).
Prior
to the preparation of the COE's MBDS Site Evaluation Report,
a review of the Disposal Area Monitoring Program (DAMOS) program
reports and pertinent scientific literature was conducted to
identify data gaps in the oceanographic knowledge of site specific
conditions at MBDS. Extensive site evaluation studies were contracted
during the preparation of the site designation document to fulfill
the criteria of Title I of the Marine Protection, Research and
Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (40 CFR §§ 228.5 and 228.6).
Physical oceanographic data were collected using bathymetric
surveys, current meters, and side scan sonar. Water column chemistry
was measured and chemical analyses were also performed on sediments
and organisms (worms, shellfish, and sandlance), both inside
and outside of the MBDS boundary. Benthic analyses were made
using conventional grab samples (soft sediments), and manned
submersible dives (hard and soft sediments). Additional fish
were sampled using trawls and gill nets. These data along with
NMFS fish catch statistics were used to evaluate fish resources
in the area. Specific programs and results are found in the
MBDS site evaluation study (COE, 1987) and in supporting documents
(SAIC, 1987).
A
major effort was also made to determine the use of the area
by cetaceans, marine reptiles, and seabirds. Data were collected
from the following sources:
-
Cetacean
and Turtle Assessment Program, Bureau of Land Management
(1978-1980);
-
National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Center-sponsored
marine mammal surveys, Manomet Bird Observatory, Manomet,
Massachusetts (1980-1985
-
Right
Whale Surveys of Cape Cod Bay, Center for Coastal Studies,
Provincetown, Massachusetts (1983-1986);
-
Cetacean
Research Unit of the Gloucester Fisherman's Museum, Gloucester,
Massachusetts (1980-1985);
-
Gulf
of Maine Cetacean Sighting Network College of the Atlantic,
Bar Harbor, Maine (1975-1981);
Aerial
surveys at MBDS (monthly, January-June, 1986); and
-
Onboard
observers during site designation cruises.
These
data, along with a synthesis of the primary literature, were
used to map the distribution and abundance of cetaceans, turtles
and seabirds in the area around Stellwagen Bank and the MBDS.
Complete descriptions of these studies can be found in MBO (1987),
and results are summarized in the MBDS Site Evaluation Report
(Hubbard et al., 1988).
The
Army Corps of Engineers (Hubbard et al., 1988)
estimates that if the MBDS is ultimately designated by EPA,
it is likely to receive an average of approximately three million
cubic yards of dredged material per decade. The Boston Harbor
Deepening Project, which involves the dredging of certain portions
of the Harbor to allow safer passage for vessels entering and
leaving the Harbor, or other proposed infrastructure improvement
projects currently under review, could triple this estimate
in any one decade.
c.
Fish Processing Wastes
In
1985, and again in 1987, requests were made to the EPA to allow
ocean dumping of fish processing wastes. Section 102(d) of the
MPRSA, and the regulations at 40 CFR § 220.1(c), specify
that "the transportation for the purpose of dumping or the dumping
in ocean waters of fish wastes" does not require a permit, provided
that the dumping does not occur in: 1) "harbors or other protected
or enclosed coastal waters"; or 2) "any other location where
the administrator finds such dumping may reasonably be anticipated
to endanger health, the environment, or ecological systems."
In response to those proposals in 1985 and 1987, EPA, in consultation
with NMFS and the fishing industry, provided suggested locations
for such disposal and recommended a number of conditions which,
if followed, would allow such dumping to meet criterion 2, as
described above. Those conditions included criteria for the
character of the material to be discharged (e.g., must be ground/no
chunk greater than 1"; no shells from shellfish), and how the
discharge should occur (e.g., laid down in rows; no revisiting
the site of discharge for at least three days). Also, these
sites were only to be used when fish processing plants either
break down and are undergoing repairs, or are temporarily shut
down for repairs. When recommendations for suitable sites were
being developed, attempts were made to avoid active fishing
areas, and to ensure that the wastes did not drift onshore.
No post-disposal assessments were conducted. Dumping of fish
processing wastes did take place, under the conditions described
above, at a site off Gloucester.
Future
activity involving the dumping of fish wastes within or adjacent
to the proposed Sanctuary is highly uncertain. One of the principal
reasons for this uncertainty is the unpredictable nature of
the fisheries themselves.
The
Northeast Region Office of NMFS has suggested that this disposal
activity is not particularly problematic from an environmental
standpoint, as most of the material appears to disappear quickly
from the sea bottom. (C. Mantzaris, NMFS, pers. comm., June
1990). Results of an informal study conducted by EPA's Region
I Office on dumping of dogfish wastes in Maine were consistent
with the opinions expressed by NMFS.
It
should be noted that this issue is confined to the disposal
of fish wastes as defined at 40 CFR § 220.1(c). It does
not include such activities as the discharge of fish
or parts and chumming materials (bait) from fishing vessels.
It is limited to large scale commercial fish processing operations
wishing to transport and dump fish wastes within or adjacent
to the Sanctuary.
d.
Incineration of Trash
A
proposal has been recently put forward to construct vessels
and facilities to allow the offshore incineration of trash from
metropolitan Boston. While much of the proposal is preliminary,
and therefore proprietary, the proposed activity would generally
involve the construction of a shoreside facility from which
to load trash into a special incineration vessel.
Offshore
incineration of trash may be conducted via permits issued pursuant
to regulations implementing Title I of the Marine Protection,
Research and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C.
§
1431 et seq.), at 40 CFR §§ 220.3(f),
228.4(b).
In
general, § 220.3(f) states that permits for incineration
of wastes at sea will be issued only as "interim" permits or
"research" permits (defined at 40 CFR §§ 220.3(d)
and 220.3(e), until specific criteria regulating this type of
disposal are promulgated, except in instances where studies
have been conducted on: the waste material; incineration method
and vessel; and the site to be used.
Additionally,
the site in question must have been designated for incineration
at sea according to procedures set forth in § 228.4(b).
These procedures must be conducted in accordance with the same
site designation requirements for other types of ocean disposal
activities, found at §§ 228.5 and 228.6. Among those
requirements is the particular consideration to be given to
avoidance of sensitive areas, such as beaches, shorelines, marine
sanctuaries, or geographically limited fisheries or shellfisheries.
Currently,
there is no site within the Stellwagen Bank area designated
for ocean incineration. Because incineration activities have
not occurred previously, it is unclear at this point what precise
effects, if any, such an operation could have on the proposed
Sanctuary's resources. In the event of a proposed incineration
site designation, or the issuance of an interim (or research)
permit under Title I regulations, future action by the Sanctuary
Manager may be warranted to ensure that Sanctuary resources
and qualities are protected from any harmful effects resulting
from such an activity.
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