Managing legacy waste in the presence of cultural heritage at Wilkes Station, East Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Camenzuli ◽  
Kirstie A. Fryirs ◽  
Damian B. Gore ◽  
Benjamin L. Freidman
Keyword(s):  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Contaminated Sites ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Historic Site ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Historical Importance ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Environmental Considerations ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe Antarctic Treaty has been the principal governing force in Antarctica since 1961. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Madrid Protocol) requires that all past and present work and waste-disposal sites are cleaned up unless doing so would cause greater environmental damage or the site is considered to be a monument of significant historical importance. Despite this requirement, legacy waste issues remain unresolved in parts of Antarctica. Clean-up operations in Antarctica are complicated by a combination of restricted access, extreme weather, financial limitations and logistical constraints. Further complications arise at sites such as Wilkes Station, where the requirement for clean-up coexists with the desire to preserve potentially valuable heritage items.Several buildings and artefacts with potential heritage value remain at Wilkes Station. However, Wilkes Station is not officially designated as a historic site or monument under the Antarctic Treaty, nor is it a national or world heritage place under Australian domestic legislation. Consequently the buildings and relics at Wilkes Station are afforded little protection under the existing relevant domestic and international legislative frameworks.This paper uses Wilkes Station as a case study of the complexities associated with conducting clean-up operations at contaminated sites with informal heritage value in Antarctica. The legislative and environmental considerations surrounding clean-up operations at Wilkes Station are also investigated. Furthermore, we argue the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to operations which facilitate the clean-up of legacy waste and preservation of the potential heritage values at Wilkes. Finally, we recognise that the complexities discussed in this paper have wider applicability and we investigate the relevance of these issues to other Antarctic contaminated sites with formal or informal heritage value.

scholarly journals Management and remediation of contaminated sites at Casey Station, Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 37 (202) ◽  
pp. 199-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Snape ◽  
Martin J. Riddle ◽  
Jonathan S. Stark ◽  
Coleen M. Cole ◽  
Catherine K. King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Priorities ◽  
Contaminated Sites ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Monitoring Site ◽  
The Past ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Technical Capability ◽  
Operational Plan ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Casey Station

AbstractThe Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty requires that past and present work sites be cleaned up unless removal would result in greater adverse environmental impact than leaving the contaminant in its existing location. In the early 1990s Australia began the documentation of contaminated sites associated with its research stations, which resulted in an extensive record of contamination at abandoned stations and waste-disposal sites. Currently the technical capability to remediate these sites does not exist because of environmental challenges that are unique to the cold regions. Investigations indicate that clean-up operations in the past have proceeded without adequate precautions and without effective monitoring. To address these problems, three research priorities have been identified to assist meeting international and national obligations to clean up these sites. They are: understanding contaminant mobilisation processes; development of ecological risk assessment for use in monitoring and setting priorities; and development of clean-up and remediation procedures. This study provides sufficient information to guide the completion of a clean-up at Casey Station and to indicate how other similar sites should be managed. The next stage is to develop the theory into an operational plan to include detailed protocols for clean-up, monitoring, site remediation, and management of the waste stream from site to final repository. To achieve this, the Australian Antarctic Division has established a contaminated sites taskforce to facilitate the transition from research and development of techniques to implementation of suitable clean-up options.

scholarly journals Antarctic environmental planning and management: conclusions from Casey, Australian Antarctic Territory

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (160) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorne K. Kriwoken
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Planning ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Environmental Legislation ◽  
Planning And Management ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Environmental Planning And Management

AbstractThe Antarctic environment has undergone significant local environmental damage and degradation, with nations rebuilding, expanding, or developing stations and bases. The Australian Antarctic Division's ten-year (1985–95) A$76.704 million programme of rebuilding and expanding stations in Australian Antarctic Territory is representative of a continent-wide increase in station numbers and impact, increasing station size, human numbers, lengths of roads, buildings, waste material production, and energy requirements. Environmental planning and impact assessment have not been incorporated in official decision-making; human activities at Australian Antarctic Territory stations had serious impacts on the limited ice-free land and local flora and fauna. Casey, are-developed station, is examined with reference to environmental planning and management under Antarctic Treaty obligations and recent Australian environmental legislation. Recommendations include the setting up of an Australian Antarctic Resources Committee responsible inter alia for environmental planning and management, including regional and station management plans and cumulative and environmental impact assessment for all Antarctic operations.

scholarly journals Towards Integrated Management of Regional Marine Protected Area Networks

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-242
Author(s):  
James Harrison
Keyword(s):  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Ocean Governance ◽  
Antarctic Marine ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Institutional Fragmentation

Abstract Marine protected areas (MPA s) are an important tool for protecting marine ecosystems both within and beyond national jurisdiction, but the integrated management of MPA s is challenging due to the institutional fragmentation that exists in international ocean governance at global and regional levels. In the absence of fundamental reform of international ocean governance, integrated management of MPA s can at present only be achieved through cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination between relevant international institutions. Understanding regime interaction in this context requires an analysis of both the relevant legal framework and the manner in which coordination mechanisms operate in practice. This article carries out a case study of regime interaction between the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, as well as other relevant institutions, in order to identify the key opportunities and challenges for promoting the integrated management of regional MPA networks in practice. It will also consider how the cooperative arrangements for the regional management of the Southern Ocean may provide lessons for the development of a new legally binding instrument for the conservation and management of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

Identifying national interests in Antarctica: the case of Canada

Polar Record ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 32 (183) ◽  
pp. 335-346
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
National Interests ◽  
The Past ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

ABSTRACTDuring the past decade, most publications on Antarctic politics and law have concentrated upon broader developments at the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) level. Less attention has been devoted to the nature of national interests in Antarctica and ways of balancing different policy objectives through time. Canada, though failing to accede to the Antarctic Treaty until 1988, offers a useful case study illuminating the broad range of interests influencing the policy of individual governments toward Antarctica, and particularly the reasons why states lacking clear national interests therein participate in the ATS. For Canada, Antarctica has always been viewed principally from an Arctic perspective. The resulting low priority of Antarctica explains Canada's initial non-involvement in the ATS. However, by the late 1980s, accession to the Antarctic Treaty was deemed desirable on policy grounds, even if Canada assumed only alow key role in the ATS, at least until 1994–1995, when the appointment of an Ambassador for Circumpolar Affairs was apparently followed by a more active bi-polar strategy.

scholarly journals The need for geological protection in Antarctica?

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-285
Author(s):  
K. Birkenmajer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
The Past ◽  
Breeding Grounds ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Living Organisms ◽  
The Antarctic

During the past 30 years or so, the primary objects of environmental protection in Antarctica were living organisms such as penguins and seals, and their breeding grounds, terrestrial plants and their habitats. The ever growing threats to the icy continent, resulting from increasing human activities, lead SCAR, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs), and recently also the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (COMNAP) to seek improved measures for conservation of the Antarctic fauna and flora, to actively participate in the preparation of conventions for protection of seals and other marine living organisms, and to elaborate a mandatory code for waste disposal.

The practicalities of domestic legislation to prohibit mining activity in Antarctica: a comment on the Australian perspective

Polar Record ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 30 (172) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Blay ◽  
Julia Green
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Mining Activity ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Domestic Legislation ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
General Objection ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Domestic Law ◽  
Antarctic Environment

AbstractAfter its rejection of the Minerals Convention adopted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) in 1988, Australia took a major step in its domestic law by enacting the Antarctic Mining Prohibition Act of 1991 (AMPA), to reinforce its general objection to mineral resource activities in Antarctica and its commitment to the protection ofthe Antarctic environment. With the adoption of the Protocol on Environmental Protectionto the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) – which required the parties to take steps to implement its provisions, including the enactment of domestic legislation – Australia enacted the Antarctic Treaty (Environmental Protection) Act (ATEPA). The ATEPA is meant to replace the AMPA once the Madrid Protocol comes into force. The Protocol bans mineral resource activities in Antarctica and adopts a comprehensive regime toregulate all human activity in Antarctica in an effort to protect the region's environment. As legislation to implement the Protocol, the principal objectives of the ATEPAare to prohibit mineral resource activities in the Australian Antarctic Territory and toregulate all human activity that may have a direct impact on the environment in the area. It also prohibits Australian nationals from engaging in mineral resource activities elsewhere in Antarctica. Like Australia, a number of ATCPs have either adopted legislationor are developing legislation in their domestic legal systems to implement the Protocol.It is one thing for the Protocol to demand the adoption of domestic legislation to ensure compliance with its provisions, including the ban on mining; it is quite another thingto develop effective domestic legislation on the issue. Given the absence of any knowncommercially exploitable deposits of minerals in Antarctica, the likelihood of any mineralresource activity in the region is very remote. But should mining activity occur in Antarctica in breach of the Protocol, the enforcement of the ban could be fraught with practical, legal, and policy difficulties. This paper examines the domestic legislative efforts by Australia as a leading ATCP to ban mining activity in Antarctica. Even though the discussion focuses on Australia by examining its legislation, the problems and the issues raised in the Australian context are also relevant to other ATCPs generally and to claimants in particular.

scholarly journals Atores não-estatais e meio ambiente nas relações internacionais: Greenpeace e a Antártica

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael A. Duarte VILLA
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International System ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
The State ◽  
Environmental Groups ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Realistic Approach ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic

O artigo analisa a crescente importância que vem tomando nas relações internacionais os atores nãoestatais transnacionais. Especificamente, o autor explora o caso dos atores ecológicos através de um estudo de caso: a ação do grupo Greenpeace na Antártica na década de 80. A hipótese central da pesquisa é que os atores não-estatais transnacionais, a exemplo dos grupos ecológicos, revisam a noção do enfoque realista da política internacional segundo a qual o monopólio das relações internacionais pertence ao Estado nacional. Congruente com tal hipótese, a emergência do ator não-estatal ecológico vai no sentido de questionar essa noção e abrir espaço para o surgimento de um sistema internacional plural quanto a seus atores e sua agenda de questões. A conclusão aponta para um envolvimento cada vez mais crescente, no nível internacional e nacional, desse tipo de ator não-estatal em arenas diferenciadas da dimensão estratégico-militar. Este estudo foi feito com base na interação desse grupo ecológico com o sistema de estados reunidos em torno do Tratado Antártico. Actors who not pertain to the state, and dealing with environmental issues in international relations: Greenpeace and the Antarctic Abstract This article analyses the growing importance transnational, non-statal actors has taken in international relationships. Specifically, the author explores the case of environmental actors discussing a case study: Greenpeace’s action in Antarctic, during the 1980’s. The main hypothesis states that transnational, non-statal actors, just like environmental groups, forces a reviewing of the realistic approach to the theory of international relationships, according to whom the monopoly of those international relationships belongs to the national State. According to that hypothesis, the emergence of transnational, non-statal actors defies the realistic notion, and opens space for an international system that is plural for its actors and agenda. The conclusion sets for a growing commitment, at national and international levels, for that kind of non-statal actor, in an arena different from the stractegic-military one. So, this study has been made considering the interaction of Greenpeace and the State system organized to the Antarctic Treaty.

scholarly journals Automated granularity to integrate digital information: the "Antarctic Treaty Searchable Database" case study

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 84-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Athur Berkman ◽  
George James Morgan III ◽  
Reagan Moore ◽  
Babak Hamidzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Digital Information ◽  
Searchable Database ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic

Environmental effects of human activities on King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (162) ◽  
pp. 193-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin M. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
King George Island ◽  
Shetland Islands ◽  
The Status ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Management Issues

AbstractKing George Island, largest of the South Shetland Islands, is the site of nine scientific stations of different nationalities operating within the Antarctic Treaty System. Following a recent visit by the author to assess environmental and management issues, this article (the first of two) updates the status of developments on the island and outlines problems, real and potential.which have arisen from scientific activities, tourism, vehicles, use of fuels and waste disposal. It is concluded that existing management practices have not been adequate to deal with these problems and new approaches are required.

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