Number: 1985-17
WHEREAS, the open water disposal of dredged material — and particularly contaminated dredged material — can be detrimental to the aquatic environment and in some cases even threaten the health of humans; and
WHEREAS, the deposition of even “clean” sand, silt, or clay in deep underwater holes or depressions can, in some circumstances, have a devastating impact on certain fish species which depend on such habitat for critical stages of their life history; and
WHEREAS, adequate low-cost techniques for properly characterizing the contamination status of dredged material are not currently available, and biologists can only imperfectly differentiate between holes which constitute valuable habitat and those which do not;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, urges appropriate governmental and private entities at the national and state level to undertake an expanded and accelerated program of research into more effective low-cost methods of testing and analyzing dredged material to permit the more accurate and certain identification of contaminated dredged material; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NWF encourages the same entities to undertake expanded studies of the habitat values of subaqueous holes, depressions, and other sensitive environments.