Ocean Disposal of New York City Sewage Sludge - A Multimedia Waste Management Assessment

There are evolving discussions among both scientists and policy makers of the desirability of making waste management decisions based on comparison of potential effects in various available disposal media (ocean, land, or atmosphere). This represents a departure from our traditional media-by-media regulatory focus. A comprehensive Special Permit Application prepared to address the ocean disposal of New York City sewage sludge contained elements of both assessment approaches. All of the traditional criteria contained in U.S. EPA Ocean Dumping Regulations were addressed responsive to a single medium evaluation. In addition, as part of the requirement to establish the "need for ocean disposal", a multimedia waste management assessment was conducted contrasting ocean disposal and New York City's long-term land based alternative - incineration. The results of this overall assessment and their implications with regard to coastal or ocean management are discussed.