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Mid-Atlantic Permitted Ocean Disposal Sites
National Information
- Ocean Dumping
- Dredged Material Management
- Guidance Document for Development of Site Management Plans for Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Sites (PDF) (15 pp, 47K )
- Marine Debris
- Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Disposal (Testing Manual)
- Deep-Sea Biodiversity and the Impacts of Ocean Dumping - NOAA
Dredged Material
- View a video (5:17)
of the Craney Island, Va. expansion being done by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Virginia Port Authority using dredged material
Ocean disposal sites near Norfolk, Virginia
The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (PDF) (12 pp, 2.4MB, About PDF) prohibits the dumping of material into the ocean that would unreasonably degrade or endanger human health or the marine environment. In 1988, the MPRSA was amended by the Ocean Dumping Ban Act 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). Ocean disposal requires a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, with EPA's approval. EPA's Coastal Science Team monitors the impact of ocean placement by collecting and analyzing benthic samples.
There are two permitted coastal disposal sites in EPA's mid-Atlantic region.
- Norfolk
Ocean Disposal Site, Virginia
- Location - 17 miles east of Fisherman's Island
- Disposal description - dredged material primarily from Navy dredging projects in the Lower Chesapeake Bay
- Site Management and Monitoring Plan for the Norfolk Ocean Disposal Site (NODS) (PDF) (12 pp, 3.3K )
- Dam Neck
Ocean Disposal Site, Virginia
- Location - three miles east of Virginia Beach
- Disposal description - dredged material from the entrance channels to the ports of Norfolk and Hampton Roads
- Site Management and Monitoring Plan for the Dam Neck Ocean Disposal Site (DNODS) (PDF) (15 pp, 4.5K )