Man has been dumping his wastes into the oceans since time immemorial, but the quantity and toxicity of these discharges has increased steadily as our industrial society has become more complex. Though scientists have just begun to study the environmental impact of these personal and industrial wastes and though tracking the paths of discharged metals and bacteria through shifting ocean currents is a frustrating and difficult task, the results thus far obtained from such investigation are not encouraging. Common sense alone suggests that the ocean's ability to absorb poisonous wastes is not infinite.

In response to this problem, Congress passed the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.¹ The Act declares that the policy of the United States shall be to "regulate the dumping of all types of materials into ocean waters and to prevent or strictly limit the dumping into ocean waters of any material which would adversely affect human health, welfare or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems or economic potentialities." Under the final regulations and criteria promulgated by the Environmntal Protection Agency in 1973² pursuant to the statute, the Administrator has the discretion to issue one year "interim permits" for dumping toxic wastes in the ocean, provided that the dumper either designs and implements land-based waste disposal projects that will phase out all ocean dumping, or ultimately reduces the toxic components of its wastes so as to qualify for a "special permit," which must prescribe stricter numerical standards for allowable discharges. After several years of lax performance, the EPA has recently taken a vigorous stand on such an implementation procedure in the case of "Philadelphia sludge." Because other major seacoast cities, including Boston and New York, would prefer to go to sea with sewage sludge, whatever the environmental costs, the Philadelphia story is an important test case.