Denmark urged to clean up US military waste in Greenland

1951 deal doesn’t specify who will be responsible for any cleanup on former Danish colony

Greenland is calling on Denmark to clean up an abandoned under-ice missile project and other US military installations left to rust in the pristine landscape after the Cold War.

The 1951 deal under which Nato member Denmark allowed the US to build 33 bases and radar stations in the former Danish province doesn’t specify who’s responsible for any cleanup.

Tired of waiting, Greenland’s local leaders are now urging Denmark to remove the junk that the Americans left behind, including Camp Century, a never-completed launch site for nuclear missiles under the surface of the massive ice cap.

“Unless Denmark has entered other agreements with the United States about Camp Century, the responsibility for investigation and cleanup lies with Denmark alone,” said Vittus Qujaukitsoq, Greenland’s minister in charge of foreign affairs.

Camp Century was built in 1959-60 in north-western Greenland, officially to test subice construction techniques. The real plan was top secret: creating a hidden launch site for ballistic missiles that could reach the Soviet Union.

The project was abandoned in 1966 because the ice cap began to crush the camp. The US removed a portable nuclear reactor that had supplied heat and electricity, but left an estimated 200,000 litres of diesel oil and sewage, according to an international study published in August.

Scientists are warning that as global warming melts the ice cap, the waste could surface and pollute the environment.

In an October 24 letter to Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen, obtained by The Associated Press, Qujaukitsoq asked about Denmark’s plans for Camp Century, adding that an international study said the waste includes “radioactivity, oil and PCB pollution.”

PCBs stands for polychlorinated biphenyls, a man-made chemical once widely used in paints, plastics and other products, but were banned after they were demonstrated to cause cancer and other ailments.