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Engineering Heritage Australia (Victoria)

Institution of Engineers, Australia         Engineering Heritage Branch

WASTE PROBLEMS IN ANTARCTICA

Thursday, 19th February 2004

In recent years attitudes to waste disposal in Antarctica have undergone profound changes. On early expeditions anything that was no longer useful was just discarded. With the establishment of research stations the volumes of wastes produced made it necessary to develop waste management plans; generally disposal was by means of dumping, incineration or sea-icing. As concerns about protecting the Antarctic environment have grown, most countries have started sending home many of the wastes generated at research stations.

Now the major challenge is finding ways to deal with the wastes left over from earlier years. Australia is at the forefront of developments in this area and this summer the contents of an old tip in the Thala Valley near Casey Station are being removed. Still ahead lies the challenge of cleaning up the research station at Wilkes, built by the Americans, later handed over to Australia and subsequently abandoned.

Here, as elsewhere in Antarctica, conflicts are bound to arise between those who wish to see the area returned to as near a pristine state as possible and those who view the remaining buildings and equipment as heritage items that should be preserved.

Engineering Heritage Victoria on-line at:
          http://www.vicnet.net.au/~engherit/

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          ehv@engineersaustralia.org.au