"We cannot let short-term economics overtake long-term environmental concerns," Senator Clinton said in a statement announcing the bill to prevent dumping of contaminants in the Sound.
A combination of factors, including development encroaching into the bay and erosion caused by the dumping of contaminants, led to the shrinking of the bay's salt marsh islands to 800 acres, from more than 16,000 acres a century ago.
While the silt contains some contaminants, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency declared it clean enough to cap a contaminated dumping ground closed in September 1997.
In addition, 60 families have agreed not to sue Ciba-Geigy, United Water Toms River or Union Carbide, the source of contaminants dumped illegally at Reich Farm, as long as information is being exchanged by all sides.
Beyond flooding and destruction, Hurricane Irene is likely to have caused less visible environmental damage by dumping sewage, pesticides and other contaminants into waterways along the East Coast, federal officials said.
That property, a state cleanup site, is a former dump where contaminants, including radioactive materials, are still being removed.
At these sites waste, often significantly contaminated with heavy metals and other contaminants, was dumped with little engineering control and without regard to the surrounding environment.
Boston's mayor said the city "might have to consider" dumping snow into Boston Harbor, a practice banned because of the greasy contaminants it releases into the water, the Boston Herald reported.
A further study in 2001 was designed to investigate the small-scale spatial distribution of contaminants inside, on top of, and around the historical dumping ground and to examine possible effects to benthic organisms (Arctica islandica, microbiological toxicity tests).
From the Fig. 6, it was observed that the contaminant species from the waste disposal site had migrated and accumulated at the location W6. Figure 7 shows the contour diagram of Cu distribution contaminant species from the location W3, it was located near an open dumping site toward southwest of the study area.
