Australia’s Frozen Toxic Time Bomb

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When you think about how much knowledge society has at this very moment, it makes some of the choices we made in the past seem incredibly stupid. A prime example of this didn’t-know-any-better kind of stupidity lies waiting amongst the snow in one of the most pristine environments left on Earth—Antarctica. There, at an Australian research station abandoned in 1969, sit over 7000 rusting fuel drums seeping fuel and chemicals into the environment. We were pretty dumb. And hindsight’s a bitch.

Thousands of kilometres from Tasmania sits Wilkes Station a defunct research centre originally set up by The US but taken over by Australia for the majority of its active years. At the time it was standard practice for waste from research operations in Antarctica to be incinerated, dumped in the ocean, or place in landfill. The result is a waste deposit site which some studies estimate is 17,000 cubic metres in size and contains a broad range of waste such as scrap metal, used batteries, food and animal remains, asbestos, and even explosives. In other words, the leftovers from our time at Wilkes is cause for serious environmental concern.

But what’s the big deal right? Antarctica is freezing cold; surely the problem is frozen and dormant? Unfortunately not, during the summer melt period chemicals from the waste leak into nearby soil and then groundwater. Metal and petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated groundwater has been reported flowing from the landfill into the neighbouring marine environment. Currently the contaminants that have leached into the soil are much more than the volume of material originally brought to the Antarctic continent.

In 1991 a treaty referred to as the Madrid Protocol was setup to better protect the environment. It states that any waste generated in Antarctica has to be returned to the origin country of those who produced it. Meaning waste from Australia’s research activities is now returned to Australia. It also states that past disposal sites on land and abandoned work sites is to be cleaned up by the generator of the waste, so in the case of Wilkes the burden is Australia’s to bear.

The process for cleaning up the waste is a mess in itself. Any clean-up efforts require more than just the physical removal of waste. Soil disturbance and air emissions during the process are also concerns, with significant potential for a temporary increase in contaminant mobilisation during excavation. Preservation, removal, and treatment of various types of waste from Wilkes will require the development of a multi-year, multi-strategy. Martin Riddle, the Australian Antarctic Divisions program leader in charge of human impacts research recently told Fairfax Media the cost of the cleanup would be in the realm of millions of dollars, “The main challenges are financial and competing pressures for resources and logistics—the opportunity cost. It will require a 10-year commitment to get the job done”.

Currently there is broad consensus on the need to clean up Wilkes, there’s just no money or plan in place to do it. When approached about the issue the Australian Antarctic Division released a statement reinforcing their commitment to Antarctic research and the issue of Wilkes base which they’ll address in their 20-year strategic plan due to be presented to the government in June. Until then they declined to comment in detail.

There’s no denying the environmental hangover from Wilkes Station is our problem. We lived the party and now in the harsh light of the morning we have to deal with the aftermath. Thankfully we’re smarter now when it comes to the environment. We know that prevention is the best way to deal with a hangover rather than the agony and cost of the aftermath. Yes, we were pretty young and stupid once. Aren’t we so much smarter now?

Follow Mitch on Twitter: @MitchMaxxParker