An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

1972 Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention)

The London Convention is an international treaty that created a global system to protect the marine environment from pollution caused by ocean dumping. This Convention ensures that the few materials that are permitted for ocean disposal are carefully evaluated to make sure that they will not pose a danger to human health or the environment and that there are not more feasible alternatives for their reuse or disposal.

You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.