[3] Beginning on August 13, 1987, a "30-mile garbage slick" composed primarily of medical and household wastes prompted extensive closures of numerous New Jersey and New York beaches.

[4] Investigations ongoing throughout the year indicated that the waste likely originated from "New York City's marine transfer stations … and the Southwest Brooklyn Incinerator and Transfer Station in particular…"[2] The then-assistant commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stated his belief that the cause of pollution was intentional rather than accidental; "sealed plastic garbage bags, he said, were cut at the top, so their contents could disperse through the ocean.

"[5] In short, Congress enacted the MWTA as a pilot study to better determine how the life cycle of medical wastes played out under federal regulations.

Following this, Section 11004 on "Inspections" provides provisions allowing for agents of the EPA to "enter… any establishment… where medical wastes are or have been generated" so as to conduct "monitoring", "testing", or to "obtain samples from any person.".

[5] This process would allow for the Agency to legally enter generating facilities for the purpose of determining if infectious agents and materials were being handled as prescribed by the EPA Administrator.

This becomes notable as it allows for one of the first instances in which an agency of the federal government may prosecute those charged with violation of regulations dealing with medical wastes.