Scientists Dump Oil in Antarctic
Chive Mynde
WELLINGTON, New Zealand--Scientists trying to clean up the largely pristine
Antarctic landscape are dumping oil on it in a series of tests, a scientist said
Thursday.
New Zealand microbiologist Jackie Aislabie said a team of researchers has been
creating small slicks as a way of searching for the best method of cleaning up
oil and fuel spills left behind by scientists working on the frozen continent.
Although Antarctica remains largely unspoiled by pollution, there have been
small oil and fuel spills in areas where researchers have worked in the past.
Last weekend, New Zealand scientists announced they had, for the first time,
found penguin chicks fouled with oil from a spill at a disused U.S. research
station.
As part of ongoing research, scientists are contaminating square yard patches of
ground so the sites can be compared with older spill areas to confirm what
changes had occurred in the soil.
New Zealand has been working with the United States for some time on research to
clean up the ice and soil underneath once oil or fuel had spilled.
"We are dealing with a low-scale problem and with aesthetic values because we
don't like to think of Antarctica as polluted," said Aislabie.
"At the moment it is difficult to know how to clean them up or indeed whether it
is best to leave them."
She expects the current surface spill tests will take another two years to
complete.
Copyright 2001 Los Angeles Times
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