COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Greenland is calling on Denmark to clean up an abandoned under-ice missile project and other U.S. military installations left to rust in the pristine Greenland landscape after the Cold War.
The 1951 deal under which NATO member Denmark allowed the U.S. 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 leaders are urging Denmark to remove the junk that the Americans left behind, including Camp Century, a never-completed launch site for nuclear missiles under 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, officially to test sub-ice 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 U.S. removed a portable nuclear reactor that had supplied power, but left an estimated 200,000 liters of diesel oil and sewage, according to an international study published in August.
Scientists warn that as global warming melts the ice cap, the waste could surface and pollute the environment.
The U.S. was interested in Greenland during the Cold War due to its strategic location in the Arctic. Under the 1951 agreement, the U.S. also built four radar stations as part of an early warning system to detect incoming Soviet bombers.
The U.S. Air Force still uses Thule Air Base, about 745 miles below the North Pole. Three other military airfields have become civilian airports.
