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'A real bad precedent':
Australia criticized for Antarctica airport plan
Multibillion-dollar project is unnecessary
and damaging to wildlife, say scientists
Australia is planning to build Antarctica’s
biggest infrastructure project: a new airport and runway that would increase the
human footprint in the world’s greatest wilderness by an estimated
40%.
The mega-scheme is likely to involve
blasting petrel rookeries, disturbing penguin colonies and encasing a stretch of
the wilderness in more than 115,000 tonnes of concrete.
The government in Canberra says the project
on the Vestfold Hills of Princess Elizabeth Land is necessary to provide
year-round access for scientists and emergency teams to Davis research station,
Australia’s most southerly base in Antarctica. Strategic concerns are also a
consideration; Australia is keen to counter China’s growing presence on the
frozen southern continent.
Environmental scientists say the
multi-billion-dollar plan is a waste of money, and could lead to a destructive
construction race among territorial rivals.
“It’s unprecedented in the Antarctic in
terms of the scale of investment and the impact on the environment. Although it
is being done in the name of science, very few scientists are enthusiastic. This
is more about flag-waving. It is about firming up Australia’s presence and our
claim,” said Shaun Brooks, an environmental scientist at the Institute of Marine
and Antarctic Studies of the University at Tasmania.
He estimates the project would add 40% to
the existing infrastructure on the continent, which would be damaging and
unnecessary.
“I can’t help thinking this will become a
white elephant. How can you justify a multi-billion-dollar runway for a base
with only 19 people during the winter and which has been maintained without
problems since 1957?” Brooks said.
Australia’s proposed new airstrip would be
2.7km long and 40 metres wide, and – unlike existing ice and gravel runways in
Antarctica – it would be a permanent structure built on top of the landscape
with cement and 11,500 concrete blocks, each weighing more than 10
tonnes.
Pollution, dust, noise and carbon emissions
are further problems. Shipping the materials from Hobart is expected to take
more than a decade and about 100 icebreaker voyages. The government says the
land would be flattened by blasting, crushing and filling with a total 3m cubic
metres of earthworks. The project will require the construction of a storage
area for explosives, land reclamation from the sea for a new wharf, new tanks
for aviation fuel and a 4km access road.
As well as the destruction of wildlife
habitat during construction, the operation of the completed airport would bring
regular disruption to breeding colonies of southern giant petrels, seals and
Adélie penguins.
Multiple studies and case histories have
shown the negative impact of aircraft on Antarctic wildlife. In the 1980s, a
single mail drop by a low-flying plane led to a stampede at a king penguin
colony that caused 7,000 deaths. The Vestfold Hills are home to colonies of
nesting Adélie penguins, who must keep stationary on their eggs for long periods
if chicks are to hatch successfully. If mothers are panicked by aircraft, eggs
can be left exposed to freezing winds and predators.
Among those who have spoken out against the
project is Geoff Dimmock, a retired logistics manager. As a former organiser of
mail drops and supply missions in the region, he said there was no way for the
project to avoid noise disruption and contamination. “I don’t want the hills
flattened,” he said. “Environmentally, I think this is a real bad precedent to
set. And it’s poor value for money.”
Politicians have asked whether the
government will break its own guidelines, which say aircraft should not fly
within 2.1km of a penguin colony and that no runway should be within 500 metres
of breeding seals.
The Green party senator of Tasmania, Peter
Whish-Wilson went further during a parliamentary session in October. How, he
asked, could a project with the largest human footprint in Antarctic history
align with the stated goal of Australia to promote “leadership and environmental
stewardship” in the region?
The Australian Antarctic Division said the
environmental evaluation would be scrutinised domestically, submitted to other
Antarctic Treaty nations and released for public consultation in Australia and
internationally.
“The construction of the aerodrome will
have some unavoidable impacts and we are committed to understanding the
environmental impacts and implementing mitigation measures to the highest
standards possible, and in line with the legislated requirements,” a
representative wrote in an email statement to the Guardian.
Plans for a permanent airport at Davis were
first floated decades ago, but past governments have balked at the cost. In
recent years, the idea has been revived and it is now being pushed forward by
the head of the Australian Antarctic Division, Kim Ellis, who is a former
military officer and chief executive of Sydney Airport.
The Australian Antarctic Division says a
major upgrade is overdue. Flights to Antarctica currently land on a blue-ice
runway at Wilkins Aerodrome during the southern summer from October to March.
This is increasingly inoperable due to global heating. High temperatures
destabilise the runway surface. Closures for this reason used to last for six
weeks. Last summer, this increased to 10 weeks.
Plans for a paved runway are now undergoing
environmental assessment. Budget discussions are expected in 2022. If approvals
are granted, construction would begin in 2023 and run until 2040 at the
earliest.
Conservationists say the evaluation process
is flawed because it will be signed off by the environment minister Sussan Ley,
who is a vocal advocate for the planned runway. She has described it as part of
“a new era of Australian Antarctic endeavour”. The government is also conscious
that China and Russia are upgrading their bases in the region.
Activists say there are viable
alternatives, such as aircraft that use skis instead of wheels for take-off and
landing. The US military demonstrated that was possible even in the dark depths
of winter by flying into one of its bases with night vision to evacuate an
injured explorer in 2008.
Brooks said Australia’s airport plan would
set the wrong precedent.
“The scale of this is so out of step with
our requirements. I think putting up this big flag will encourage others to do
something similar,” he said. “It doesn’t align with Australia’s claim to be an
environmental leader. Antarctica is special. Everywhere else in the world, you
measure wilderness by what’s left. In Antarctica, it’s still the other way
round.”
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