This is the final report to the New England Regional Commission on a one-year research project on the biological effects of ocean disposal of solid waste. The problem area is extremely large, involving virtually all oceanographic disciplines. In may areas literature review or limited laboratory experiments had to serve where more detailed work may have been desirable. The greatest value of this work may be the identification and definition of problem areas. Since resources to study the consequences of ocean disposal are limited, it is important to identify these aspects which are of greatest ecological concern and which are amenable to field and laboratory research. The laboratory work reported on here was completed in August, 1972. Since that time reseach on ocean disposal of solid waste has been carried out by G. T. Rowe (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) and T. C. Loder (University of New Hampshire), both supported in part by the New England Regional Commission. The emphasis of these projects has been on field observations at both shallow and deep sites and therefore will complement and extend the conclusions from this work.