According to a report by the Danish newspaper Politiken on June 28 local time, after the end of the Cold War, the US military gradually withdrew most of its military bases in Greenland. However, the withdrawal left behind a large amount of environmentally harmful substances, causing concerns about the long-term environmental risks in the Arctic region.
The newspaper investigated at least 36 abandoned U.S. military bases and facilities in Greenland and found that these sites still contained millions of liters of low-radioactive wastewater, as well as a large amount of aging infrastructure, including pipelines, cables, vehicle batteries, and numerous diesel fuel barrels.
The investigation indicates that many fuel barrels have become severely rusted due to long-term exposure to harsh conditions. Some even have holes, increasing the risk of harmful substances leaking into the surrounding environment. In addition to radioactive wastewater, these abandoned materials also contain heavy metals and other harmful substances, which could pose a threat to Greenland’s fragile marine ecosystems.
During the Cold War, due to Greenland's strategic location between North America and Europe, the United States established many military bases and facilities there. As international tensions eased in the early 1990s, the U.S. military closed most of these bases. Currently, the United States only retains one active military base in Greenland.
However, after analyzing the water samples published on the US Department of Defense website, The Political Report also found that high concentrations of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS) were detected in the water samples near the Piqua Space Base, America’s only strategic base in the Arctic region. The concentration of perfluorooctyl sulfonic acid (PFOS) reached 1100 nanoparticles per liter. Danish scholars stated that this level is approximately 250 times higher than the EU limits.
Perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances are a large class of fluorine-containing chemicals. Due to their difficulty in degrading in the natural environment, they are also known as 'permanent chemicals'. Among them, perfluorooctyl sulfonic acid is one type of perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substance, which is considered to have potential endocrine-disrupting and carcinogenic effects.
The relevant findings once again highlight the long-term environmental legacy left by U.S. military activities in the Arctic region. As climate change leads to glacial melting and permafrost degradation, pollutants that were originally trapped in ice and soil may be further exposed and spread, intensifying the impact on the local ecological environment.
