Damos: Twenty Years of Dredged Material Disposal Site Monitoring. Isn'st That Enough?

Since 1977, the US Army Corps of Engineers Disposal Area Monitoring System (DAMOS) has monitored New England's offshore dredged material disposal sites. DAMOS has shown that by using monitoring information to make management decisions, open water disposal of dredged sediments is possible with minimal environmental impact. Over the past two decades, DAMOS has answered many of the key questions about dredged material impacts. Yet the need for such a programme remains strong from both the technical and public interest perspectives. the programme continues to monitor projects that are extending our knowledge in the areas of deeper water capping, geotechnical behaviour of capping and capped materials, and biological response to contaminants. These investigations, along with the need for specific disposal site surveys, will continue to provide valuable technical information needed by the public, policy makers, and regulators to make critical decisions on dredged sediment management.