A seven-year research plan has been developed to study the environmental and possible health effects of a proposed outfall for the discharge of sewage sludge into the ocean. The proposed pipeline would be constructed to an unprecedented depth of about 300-400 m off the coast of Orange County in southern California. Anticipated environmental effects associated with marine sludge disposal would be minimal at that depth. Approval to conduct this experiment is being sought through special legislation and regulatory actions at both state and federal levels. Because a sludge outfall serving the County Sanitation Districts of Orange County would be about four or five times deeper than any existing wastewater or sludge outfalls, special research for system engineering and evaluation of environmental effects is necessary. The plan that has been developed to direct this research is designed to examine comprehensively the transport, fate, and effects of sludge discharged at depth off the southern California coast.