Melting ice sheet could release frozen Cold War-era waste

The northeast portal to "Camp Century" during construction in 1959. (Credit: US Army)

The U.S. military base “Camp Century,” built in the Greenland Ice Sheet in 1959, served as a top-secret site for testing the feasibility of nuclear missile launch sites in the Arctic during the Cold War. When the camp was decommissioned in 1967, its infrastructure and waste were abandoned under the assumption they would be entombed forever by perpetual snow.

But climate change has warmed the Arctic more than any other region on Earth. Recent findings from a new study at York University in Canada, conducted in collaboration with the University of Zurich, indicate that the portion of the ice sheet covering “Camp Century” could start to melt by the end of the century. If the ice melts, the camp’s infrastructure, including any remaining biological, chemical, and radioactive wastes, could re-enter the environment and potentially disrupt nearby ecosystems.  

Waste beneath the ice

In the study, the researchers took an inventory of the wastes at “Camp Century” and ran climate model simulations to determine whether the waste would remain intact in a warming Arctic. The team analyzed historical U.S. army engineering documents to determine where and how deep the material was buried and to what extent the ice cap has moved since the 1950s.

“Camp Century” – today some 35 meters beneath the ice – covers 55 hectares. The researchers estimate the site contains 200,000 liters of diesel fuel. Based on building materials used in the Arctic at the time, the authors speculate the site contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pollutants toxic to human health. They also estimate the site has 240,000 liters of waste water, including sewage, along with an unknown volume of low-level radioactive coolant from the nuclear generator used to produce power.

Environmental and political implications

Looking at existing business-as-usual climate projections, the team determined the wastes would not remain encased in ice forever. “The climate simulations indicate that perpetual slow won’t last forever; indeed, it seems likely that the site could transition to net melt as early as 2090,” according to co-author Horst Machguth, Department of Geography at the University of Zurich. Once the site transitions from net snowfall to net melt, it’s only a matter of time before the wastes melt out and are transported to the marine ecosystems.

Nevertheless, the study does not advocate immediate remediation activities at Camp Century. The waste is buried tens of meters below the ice and any cleanup activities would be costly and technically challenging. The authors say it is therefore advisable to wait until the ice sheet has melted down to almost expose the wastes before beginning site remediation.

“Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is altering those sites,” said lead author William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University in Toronto, Canada. “It’s a new breed of political challenge we have to think about.”

Literature:

Colgan, W., H. Machguth, M. MacFerrin, J. D. Colgan, D. van As and J. A. MacGregor (2016): The abandoned ice-sheet base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a warming climate, Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/2016GL069688.