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What Kinds of Wastes are Being Legally Dumped into Mid-Atlantic Coastal Waters and Where is This Being Done?
National Information
A cross section of sediment from the ocean bottom in a dumping area
The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (summary or full text 
)
prohibits the dumping of material into the ocean that would unreasonably
degrade or endanger human health or the marine environment. In 1988, the
Act was amended to also ban the ocean dumping of industrial waste and
sewage sludge. Today, virtually all ocean dumping is dredged material
(sediments removed from the bottom of water bodies in order to maintain
navigation channels and berthing areas) or waste from fish processing
operations. Ocean dumping requires a permit from the Army Corps of
Engineers, with EPA's approval.
EPA's oceans team assesses the impact of the dumping by taking water and
bottom sediment samples.
There are four permitted coastal dumping operations in EPA's mid-Atlantic region.
- Lake Erie
- Waste description - dredged material
- Fish
Waste Dump Site, Virginia
- Location - six miles east of Hog Island
- Waste description - fish waste mainly from clam processing plants along the Eastern Shore
- Norfolk
Dump Site, Virginia
- Location - 17 miles east of Fisherman's Island
- Waste description - dredged material primarily from Navy dredging
projects in the Lower Chesapeake Bay
- Dam Neck
Dump Site, Virginia
- Location - three miles east of Virginia Beach
- Waste description - dredged material from the entrance channels to the ports of Norfolk and Hampton Roads