Geotechnical Engineering Issues in Ocean Waste Disposal: A Review

Marine pollution has received considerable attention during the past few years as the news media has focused on such topics as contaminated seafoods, algae blooms, fish and mammal kills, and dirty beaches. The source of these pollution problems are many and include: sewage outfalls, industrial discharges, storm runoff from agricultural lands and metropolitan areas, waste sludges, dredge materials, and highly concentrated chemical and radioactive wastes. Although the United Nations has banned marine dumping, there is still the problem of legacy wastes and low level discharges into the coastal zone. Disposal of these wastes in the marine environment typically involves either: their placement directly on or within the seabed or dilution in the water column. If wastes are diluted in the water column, they have the potential to be adsorbed onto the surface of sediment particles which are settling to the seabed. As particles settle through the water column they are subjected to extensive dispersal and may eventually be injested by bottom-feeding organisms or bio-accumulation by plankton and, thus, enter the food chain. Geotechnical engineers working as members of multidisciplinary teams apply quantitative knowledge about the behavior and physical performance of earth materials toward designing systems for disposing of these wastes in the oceans and aid in monitoring waste disposal sites. In dredged material disposal geotechnical engineers assist in selecting disposal equipment, predict stable characteristics of dredged material mounds, design mound caps, and predict erodibility of the material. With sewage outfalls, geotechnical engineers design foundation and anchor elements, estimate scour potential around the outfalls, and determine the stability of deposits made up of discharged materials. Geotechnical engineers also consider the influence that pollutants have on the engineering behavior of marine sediment and the extent to which changes in behavior affect the performance of structures founded on the sediment. In each of these roles, careful application of geotechnical engineering principles can contribute toward more efficient and environmentally safe disposal operations.