Essay On Ocean Dumping

In the pacific ocean somewhere, a body of water is present in which all of the trash in our oceans floats. You can find bits of paper, plastics, and other materials here. This reflects poorly on the garbage management systems that countries have in place. The trash in our world needs to be better taken care of. Letting this garbage into our oceans can cause a number of issues. Some of which include the degradation of marine and natural resources. Oceanic dumping can also cause human health risks. Some things are dumped into the ocean still, but most things are illegal to dump.

The vast majority of what gets dumped into the ocean today are sediments, human remains for burial, vessels, man-made ice piers in Antarctica, and fish wastes. Some of the things that are illegal to dump are radioactive wastes, chemical warfare agents, sewage sludge, medical wastes, and oil of any form as well as many other things. A form of oceanic dumping is incineration at sea. This is because the emissions will deposit into the surrounding water. In 1988 The Oceanic Dumping Ban Act was passed. It banned the dumping of industrial wastes. In 1985 the EPA proposed specific regulations in order to better develop and regulate the incineration at sea, but these regulations were never passed and the program was discontinued.

Before the laws against oceanic dumping were

This act was passed in 1972. It states that it is the policy of the United States to regulate the dumping of all materials that affect human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems or economic potentialities. This act also ensures that the requirements of the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter of 1972, known as the London Convention. The London Convention was one one of the first international agreements for protecting the marine environment from human