What effect might the new sewage outfall have on human activities? Managing competing uses requires an understanding of how the oceanographic system behaves and how it responds to the many abuses inflicted by society. The goal of the USGS project is to improve this understanding. For example, many contaminants introduced into the coastal ocean are associated with particles that may eventually be buried in bottom sediments. USGS studies have focused on determining how sediments and associated contaminants are transported and where these toxins may accumulate in the Massachusetts Bay system.