Until Congress banned ocean dumping of sewage sludge in 1988, New York City dumped millions of tons of its sewage into the ocean. New York sludge was too contaminated with toxic pollutants to be used and too expensive to be buried safely in a landfill. In 1992, New York City awarded Merco Joint Venture; an Oklahoma-based company tied to New York organized crime (2), a six-year contract to dispose of nearly a fifth of the Big Apples' sewage sludge.