This is an award to provide partial support for a comprehensive study of issues in waste management that impact on the environmental quality of the urban coastal waters of the United States. Issues to be addressed by the Water Science Technology Board of the National Research Council in this study, include the effects on coastal water quality produced both by point discharges of wastes and pollutants from diffuse, non-point sources. Effects to be considered include biostimulation of nuisance organisms and aquatic plants, the excessive growth and presence of which degrades coastal water quality and factors that directly impact on environmental quality and public health. Additional support for this project is expected from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state and local governmental agencies, and from the National Academy of Engineering. This project is expected to provide a basis for determining research needed for more appropriate utilization of coastal waters in management of waste discharges. This is likely to include a search for innovative processes and systems to prepare wastes for ocean placement; better models of diffusion, dispersion and pollutant interactions as they are affected by physical, chemical and biological processes to determine their environmental effects; for determining the placement of pollution abatement facilities and their engineering design; and engineering systems for response to normal and accidental discharge of pollutants from marine vessels.
