Contact EPA Pacific Southwest Water Division
Pacific Southwest, Region 9
Serving: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands, Tribal Nations
Dredging and Sediment Management
SF-DODS Quick Finder | ||
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Dredging & Sediment Home SF-DODS Overview Table 1 Table 4 | Regional Teams & Partners Vessel route to SF-DODS Table 2 | Disposal Sites Reference Area Database Table 3 |
San Francisco Deep Ocean Disposal Site
SF-DODS was established in 1994 to provide an environmentally superior alternative to disposal in San Francisco Bay.
- It is the deepest and farthest off shore of any ocean dredged material disposal site in the United States.
- To reach it, disposal barges must be towed through portions of the protected waters of the National Marine Sanctuaries at Monterey Bay and Gulf of the Farallones.
- Because sea conditions in the open Pacific Ocean off central California can be extreme, and in order to avoid impacts to the National Marine Santuaries, disposal rules for SF-DODS include monitoring of and strict limitations on: transit route; allowable weather and wave conditions; maximum barge loading; and barge performance (no spilling/leaking).
Disposal Site Information
- Site Designation Rule (PDF) (32 pp, 97K, About PDF)
- Site Amendment Rule July 23, 1999
- Site Management and Monitoring Plan (SMMP)(PDF) (6 pp, 39K, About PDF)
- Reference Area Database
- Synthesis Report: 15 Years of Monitoring SF-DODS (105 pp, 1.3M) Updated June 2010
Location | Approximately 50 miles offshore of San Francisco, CA |
Center coordinates | 37° 39.0' N by 123° 29.0' W (NAD 83) |
Water Depth | 8,200 - 9,840 feet (2,500 - 3,000 meters) |
Size | 6.5 square nautical miles (22 square kilometers) |
Shape | Oval, with north-south length approximately 4 nautical miles (7.5 kilometers) and east-west width approximately 2.5 nautical miles (4.5 kilometers) |
Disposal Zone | 600 meter radius circle at center of overall disposal site |
Volume Limit | 4.8 million cubic yards of dredged material per year |
Contact Information
Allan Ota (ota.allan@epa.gov)
Oceanographer / Regional Ocean Dumping Coordinator
(415) 972-3476