U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN ANTARCTICA
National Science Foundation
Arlington, Virginia 22230
30 November 1993
The National Science Foundation operates the U.S.
Antarctic Program in accordance with all applicable
international and national requirements regarding
protection of the environment. Environmental
protection and waste management procedures have been
improved significantly in recent years, and cleanups
have largely removed the waste that had accumulated
during earlier decades when, as in the United States,
standards did not meet present-day expectations.
Following are summaries of the treaties and laws that
apply to Antarctica and of recent actions taken in the
U.S. Antarctic Program.
Treaties and U.S. laws that protect the antarctic environment
- The Antarctic Treaty (1959) prohibits military
fortifications, nuclear explosions, disposal of
radioactive waste, and testing of weapons. The United
States is a signatory.
- The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the
Antarctic Treaty (the ``Madrid protocol,'' 1991)
prohibits any activity, other than scientific research,
relating to mineral resources. It tightens standards
for assessing impacts, conserving fauna and flora,
managing waste, and preventing marine pollution. The
U.S. Antarctic Program is complying voluntarily until
U.S. legislation to implement the protocol is in place.
- The Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (Public
Law 95-541), and the regulations issued under it,
govern the taking of fauna and flora; entry into
protected areas; introduction of nonnative species;
material management and waste disposal; and use of
designated pollutants. A permit system enables
investigators to apply to collect specimens and enter
protected areas for compelling scientific purposes.
The system provides for public comment on each
application.
- The Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention
Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-623) makes it unlawful to
harvest marine species in a way that would damage
ecological relationships among harvested, dependent,
and related populations.
- The Antarctic Protection Act of 1990 (Public Law
101-594) bans mineral resource activities by U.S.
citizens.
- A 1993 decision by the U.S. Appeals Court for the
District of Columbia establishes that the National
Environmental Policy Act (Public Law 91-190 and
amendmentsþNEPA) applies to U.S. Government activities
in Antarctica. Before, Executive Order 12114 (Environ-
mental Effects Abroad of Major Federal Actions, 1979)
guided the U.S. Antarctic Program.
Conservation and environmental procedures in the U.S.
Antarctic Program
- The National Science Foundation requires every
scientist proposing research in Antarctica to analyze
the environmental impact of the proposed project. The
Foundation carefully reviews the proposal and does not
give approval unless the project (sometimes modified
for this purpose) complies with antarctic environmental
standards.
- Activities planned in the U.S. Antarctic
Programþscience support, construction, operations,
logistics, and facilities maintenanceþare (a) subjected
to environmental analysis specific to the proposed
action or (b) governed by a program-wide environmental
impact statement issued in 1980 and revised in 1991.
More than 120 specific environmental documents have
been issued. The documents are public (see last page).
- The National Science Foundation administers the
Antarctic Conservation Act permit system, which enables
qualified scientists to obtain access to fauna and
flora and specially protected areas on a controlled
basis. Public comment is solicited (in the Federal
Register) about each application, and permit requests
and final reports are public information.
- The Foundation produces and disseminates documents
and videos to educate U.S. citizens about their
environmental protection responsibilities in Antarctica
and the penalties for noncompliance. Audiences include
U.S. Antarctic Program participants and nongovernmental
entities such as tourists, tour operators, and
adventurers.
- A Foundation-managed program places trained
observers on selected tour ships to monitor compliance
by U.S. citizens with environmental standards of the
Antarctic Conservation Act.
- All program participants sort and recycle waste at
their work sites and their living areas.
- Waste management is now a ``cradle-to-grave''
function that has been integrated into U.S. antarctic
operations from procurement to disposal.
- In 1993 the Foundation's Office of Polar Programs
established and filled two new positions
Compliance Manager and Associate Compliance Manager to
assure adherence with NEPA in Antarctica. A third
position Antarctic Conservation Act Enforcement
Officer also was established and filled. These
positions add to four existing managers whose primary
roles are in safety, environment, and health aspects of
the U.S. Antarctic Program.
- A U.S. Government interagency group is drafting
legislation to implement U.S. adherence to the new
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic
Treaty.
Recent initiatives in environmental protection and
waste management
- The 1993-1994 season is the last year of a 5-year
antarctic safety, environment, and health initiative
approved by the President and the Congress. The
initiative includes $36-million for environmental
protection in the U.S. Antarctic Program. Some results
follow.
- Fuel handling has been improved by replacing
rubber bladder tanks with double-wall steel tanks at
McMurdo's skiway and ice runway ; replacing old, short
hoses with fewer but longer hoses having ``dry-break''
connectors; developing fuel spill contingency plans;
and installing spill cleanup equipment at U.S.
stations. A program is under way to provide
containment berms around McMurdo's single-wall fuel
tanks. Tanks near Robert F. Scott's 1902 hut (an
Antarctic Treaty historic site) are to be removed. Mc-
Murdo's entire fuel system (tanks, pipes, pumps) is
being evaluated in detail in 1993-1994.
- McMurdo's original dump (used until 1980) on the
shore of Winter Quarters Bay was cleared of surface and
near-surface debris and stabilized.
- McMurdo's old trash-burning area (used from 1980
to 1991) at Fortress Rocks uphill from the station was
remediated and stabilized. Packaged waste now is
staged there for removal from Antarctica.
- At Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, on the ice
sheet in the antarctic interior, open-trench disposal
of solid waste was terminated. The station now sends
all its solid and hazardous waste to McMurdo for pro-
cessing. In the 1992-1993 season 135 metric tons*þmore
than 20 cargo plane loadsþwas removed.
- The U.S. Antarctic Program no longer burns or
incinerates food waste or any other waste product in
Antarctica. It is proposing to remove the waste from
Antarctica for proper disposal.
- More than 2,300 drums containing hazardous or
unknown waste were identified, packed in salvage drums,
and removed in 1991-1992 to the United States for
proper disposal. Most of the waste consisted of con-
taminated fuel, solvents, and acids and bases that had
accumulated over the years.
- McMurdo Station is the waste management center for
virtually all U.S. operations on the antarctic
continent. The waste that is collected, labeled, and
packaged there is removed to approved disposal sites
outside Antarctica.
- The antarctic program has moved significantly
toward its goal of total waste removal from Antarctica.
McMurdo's annual cargo ship in 1992 removed 2,500
metric tons of backlogged waste, old equipment, and
recyclablesþthis was the peak year. The 1993 load was
1,500 metric tons.
- Waste generated at dormitories and work sites is
sorted at the source into 17 categories for reuse in
Antarctica or for recycling or disposal in the United
States.
- The several dozen research camps around Antarctica
that are supported each austral summer from McMurdo
take their waste to McMurdo for appropriate handling.
- Palmer Station, on Anvers Island off the west
coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, sends its solid and
hazardous waste by ship either to destinations outside
of Antarctica for proper disposal or to McMurdo for
further handling and removal from Antarctica.
- Electrical transformers containing PCBs were
removed from Antarctica and replaced with new trans-
formers that do not contain PCBs.
- The program has made major strides in inventory
management to reduce the amount of hazardous and other
material stored in Antarctica.
- Chemical, laboratory, and hazardous wastes are
prohibited from station sewage systems. The science
laboratories and other sources capture such waste for
removal from Antarctica.
- Palmer's kitchen, bathing, and toilet waste is
macerated and diluted with brine from the seawater
desalination plant before being discharged into the
sea.
- McMurdo's kitchen, bathing, and toilet waste is
macerated, diluted with brine from the seawater desal-
ination plant, and discharged into the sea through a
submerged pipe to assure dilution.
- NSF is collecting data for an assessment of the
McMurdo sewage system. Also, in response to its re-
quest, potential contractors have presented statements
of how they might engineer a sewage treatment plant.
- Waste minimization and recycling technologies are
being researched and pursued for McMurdo Station.
- The two ships operated by the U.S. Antarctic
Programþthe Nathaniel B. Palmer and the Polar Dukeþwere
built in 1992 and 1983 and meet both international high
seas standards (Marpol) and Antarctic Treaty protocol
stipulations regarding discharge of pollutants.
Former stations
- The original Palmer Station, built in 1965 across
Arthur Harbor from the present station, has been dis-
mantled and removed from Antarctica. The site has been
cleaned.
- Hallett Station, on the Victoria Land coast 600
kilometers north of McMurdo, was operated by the United
States and New Zealand from 1956 to 1973. U.S. and
N.Z. teams have removed most remains of the station
except for two refuge huts and some stored fuel.
Removal of the fuel is being planned.
- East Base, on Stonington Island, 400 kilometers
south of Palmer, was operated by U.S. expeditions in
1940-1941 and 1947-1948. Site of the oldest U.S.
structures in Antarctica, it was declared historic
under the Antarctic Treaty in 1989 and cleaned up, with
due regard for its historic status, in 1991 and 1992.
A small museum has been set up in one of the buildings.
Studies
- High levels of dissolved oxygen (8 to 9 parts per
million) were recorded from sea water samples drawn
adjacent to McMurdo, indicating excellent water
quality. Suspended solids in the water column were
negligible.
- Air monitoring stations installed for NSF at Mc-
Murdo in the 1992-1993 austral summer season gave read-
ings of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, the various
nitrogen oxides, and small particulates that are well
below (much better than) U.S. national ambient air
quality standards applicable in the United States.
- Studies performed by scientists from U.S.
universities with funding from NSF have shown that the
sediments under Winter Quarters Bay (McMurdo's harbor,
a small triangular area 200 meters on a side) include
hydrocarbons, other pollutants, and anthropogenic
debris that were deposited during the years of the
seaside dump. The sediments and waters just outside
this small harbor and elsewhere show little or no
effects from pollution or anthropogenic disturbance.
- An Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement
Laboratory has been established in McMurdo's Albert P.
Crary Science and Engineering Center.
- NSF has set up a program to support research that
will provide part of the scientific basis for antarctic
environmental management. Publication NSF 93-96 (see
below) describes the program.
Instructional NSF documents and videos
Antarctic Research Program Announcement and
Proposal Guide (NSF 93-49, 46p) includes environmental
protection instructions, worksheets, and checklists
that scientists must use when submitting proposals to
NSF for research project support.
Facts about the United States Antarctic Research
Program (NSF 92-134, 16p) contains information about
current U.S. activities, research, and policy. Section
IX is ``Environmental protection.''
U.S. Antarctic Program Personnel Manual, 1992
Edition (NSF 92-63, 66p) contains a chapter devoted to
safety, environment, and health protection.
1993 Addendum (NSF 93-79, 8p) includes an
environmental protection update.
U.S. Antarctic Program Final Environmental Impact
Statement (NSF 84-81). 1980 (reprinted October 1984).
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
for the United States Antarctic Program. National
Science Foundation, October 1991. xxvi+431 p.
Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978 (NSF 89-59, 80
p.) contains the texts of the law and its regulations,
maps of special areas, and a permit application form.
Conservation of Antarctic Birds (NSF 93-120)
explains how to avoid interfering with birds when
observing them.
Waste Management in the United States Antarctic
Program (NSF 93-128, 20p) is a how-to manual for
program participants that emphasizes each person's
responsibilities for sorting and recycling.
Cooperative Agreements for Environmental Research
in Support of U.S. Antarctic Program Environmental
Management Program Solicitation (NSF 93-96) describes
financial support available in this new subprogram.
Antarctic Journal of the United States (1966-
). National Science Foundation. $14 ($17.50 foreign)
per year from Government Printing Office, Washington,
D.C. 20402. Quarterly news, plus annual reviews, of
the U.S. Antarctic Program; includes numerous items on
environmental protection and serves as the U.S. journal
of record for texts of recommendations from Antarctic
Treaty consultative meetings.
- Behold Antarctica is a 15-minute video on
Antarctica's importance as a wildlife sanctuary. Loan
only.
Beautiful Antarctica is a 12.5-minute video on
avoiding pollution. Loan only.
- Get publications with NSF numbers from the
Publications unit (see below). Other items are
available from the Polar Information Program (703 306
1131; fax 703 306 0139; or dfriscic@nsf.gov on
Internet).
- Some 120 antarctic environmental assessment
documents are available electronically on NSF's STIS
(see below).
- The Library of Congress Antarctic Bibliography and
its monthly Current Antarctic Literature abstract and
index the scientific literature, including
environmental impact studies.
About the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation funds and manages
the United States Antarctic Program, which supports re-
search and operations in partial fulfillment of the Nation's interests and responsibilities under the
Antarctic Treaty.
The Foundation provides awards for research in
many other disciplines of science and engineering and
for scientific and engineering education. The awardee
conducts the research and prepares the results for
publication. The Foundation welcomes proposals on
behalf of all qualified scientists and engineers and
related educational professions.
In accordance with Federal statutes, regulations,
and NSF policies, no person on grounds of race, color,
age, sex, national origin, or disability shall be
excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of,
or subject to discrimination under any activity
receiving financial assistance from the Foundation.
A list of the Foundation's publications, and
single copies of them, may be obtained from Publications, NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia
22230 (703 306 1130).
Many Foundation publications, including the
antarctic environmental assessments, may be searched
online or downloaded using STIS, NSF's Science & Techno-
logy Information System. STIS is available 24 hours a
day, and it is free. You don't need a password. If
you have vt-100 emulation, you can reach STIS via
Internet on telnet stis.nsf.gov or telnet 128.150.195.-
40. Dial in on 703 306 0212. Help: stis@nsf.gov
(Internet), stis@nsf (Bitnet), 703 306 0214 (phone).
The TDD number is 703 306 0090.
*1 metric ton = 1,000 kilograms = 2,205 pounds = 1.1 ton