Climate change could release toxic waste from Arctic military bases

Waste including nuclear coolant water, gasoline and carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) might spill into the oceans and threaten the Arctic ecosystem if temperatures continue to rise, according to a new study. US army base Camp Century was decommissioned in 1967 and the site’s portable nuclear reactor was removed. However, millions of litres of waste was left behind that could be released by 2090. The study argues that the potential risk of leaks from areas previously seen as safe could lead to political conflicts over responsibility for the waste.

Melting ice from global warming could release the materials this century

There may be 24 million liters of biological waste and

Millions of liters of waste, including gasoline, PCBs, and nuclear coolant water lay buried beneath the ice sheet at an abandoned Cold War base in Greenland - and climate change could soon send it spilling into the ocean.

Along with chemical and biological waste, there are thousands of tons of physical remnants from abandoned infrastructure that sit dormant at Camp Century – a site which covers an area roughly the length of 100 football fields.

The U.S. base was decommissioned nearly 50 years ago under the assumption that the waste would remain trapped underground forever, but a new analysis reveals that warming temperatures could unearth hazardous waste in just 75 years.

Millions of liters of waste, including gasoline, PCBs, and nuclear coolant water lay buried beneath the ice sheet at an abandoned Cold War base in Greenland, and climate change could soon send it spilling into the ocean. Camp Century is pictured above

CAMP CENTURY Camp Century was built in 1959 in northwest Greenland by the US Army Corps of Engineers, 8m beneath the surface of the ice sheet. It was one of five bases built near the Thule Air Force Base, with the purpose of resting Arctic construction techniques and scientific research. Ice core samples collected there are still used for research today. Along with this, it had a secret mission, 'Project Iceworm,' and was designed for a proof of concept for a planned subsurface nuclear missile base. But, a plan to deploy as many as 600 intermediate range ballistic missiles at the site was instead thrown out in 1963. Advertisement !- - ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ru/sciencetech/none/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 - ->

When the U.S. decommissioned the 200-person base Camp Century in 1967, a portable nuclear reactor was removed from the site, Mashable reports.

But, the waste was left behind.

In a paper published to the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers now say environmental conditions could release these materials, and thus challenge the goodwill between the U.S., Denmark, and Greenland that was established in the long-ago treaty.

Along with this, it spells potential threats to humans and the Arctic ecosystem.

Through analyses of documents from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the scientists estimate that there are roughly 9,200 tonnes of physical waste from abandoned infrastructure and 20,000 liters of chemical waste from base fuel.

Solid waste is thought to sit 36 meters beneath the surface, according to Mashable, and the researchers say there may be 24 million liters of biological waste, primarily sewage, and radioactive coolant water from the reactor.

The Greenland base, pictured, which sits 125 miles from the coast, 'was deliberately established in the dry snow zone of the ice sheet, where virtually no surface melting occurs,' the authors explain

The U.S. base was decommissioned nearly 50 years ago under the assumption that the waste would remain trapped underground forever, but a new analysis reveals that warming temperatures could unearth hazardous waste in just 75 years

The Greenland base, which lies 125 miles from the coast, 'was deliberately established in the dry snow zone of the ice sheet, where virtually no surface melting occurs,' the authors explain.

In recent years, however, the Greenland ice sheet has lost hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice, largely due to surface melt.

'Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites,' said William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University, and lead author of the study.

'It's a new breed of climate change challenge we have to think about.'

The resulting meltwater can travel about 10 meters each season into the ice below, and could continue on past this.

In recent years, however, the Greenland ice sheet has lost hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice, largely due to surface melt. Part of the glacial ice sheet that covers about 80 percent of the country is pictured above, in 2013

Meltwater can travel about 10 meters each season into the ice below, and could continue on past this. Pictured above, researchers place GPS into the ice to monitor activity of the surface lakes and ice

This means the underground waste could be vulnerable to surface melting and subsurface flow, and the models show it could happen before the end of the century, Mashable explains.

If this waste was to be released, the most significant threat would come from the PCBs, polychlorinated biphenyls, which do not break down naturally and have potentially to cause cancer.

'When we looked at the climate simulations, they suggested that rather than perpetual snowfall, the site could transition from having a buildup of snow to having primarily melting conditions as early as 2090,' Colgan said.

'Once the site transitions from net snowfall to net melt, it's only a matter of time before the wastes melt out; it becomes irreversible.'

Through analyses of documents from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the scientists estimate that there are roughly 9,200 tonnes of physical waste from abandoned infrastructure and 20,000 liters of chemical waste from fuel

Researchers say there may be 24 million liters of biological waste, primarily sewage, and radioactive coolant water from the reactor. Pictured, a crane positions a nuclear plant's waste tank at Camp Century

The models reveal threats to both ecological and political wellbeing, the researchers explain.

'Our study highlights that Camp Century now possesses unanticipated political significance in light of anthropogenic climate change,' the authors wrote.

'The potential remobilization of wastes that were previously regarded as properly sequestered, or preserved for eternity, is an instance, possibly the first, of a potentially new pathway to political dispute associated with climate change.

'Several such pathways have already been identified, including disputes over emissions reductions, changing agricultural patterns, forced migration, and newly accessible arctic resources.'