Problems of Waste Disposal in the
Arctic Environment
T. G. WATMORE, Arctic Environmental Officer
Producing Department
Imperial Oil Limited
Edmonton, Alberta
DEFINITION OF PERMAFROST
Permafrost, or perennially frozen ground, is defined exclusively on the basis of
temperature and refers to the thermal condition of earth materials such as soil and
rock when their temperature remains below 32 F continuously for a number of
years. Permafrost includes ground which freezes in one winter, remains frozen
through the following summer and into the next winter. This is the minimum limit
for the duration of permafrost; it may be only a few inches thick. At the other end
of the scale, permafrost may be thousands of years old and hundreds of feet thick.
The mode of formation of such old and thick permafrost is identical to that of
permafrost only recently developed.
Even a small negative heat imbalance each year results in a thin layer being
added annually to the permafrost. This annually repeated process can produce a layer
of permafrost hundreds of feet thick after several thousands of years. This process
does not cause the permafrost to increase in thickness indefinitely but a
quasi-equilibrium is reached whereby the downward penetration of frozen ground is
balanced by the flow of heat from the unfrozen ground below. Permafrost is not
"permanently" frozen. Changes in climate and terrain can cause the permafrost to
thaw and disappear.
INTRODUCTION
This paper deals with some of the current waste disposal problems in the
western Canadian Arctic, and more particularly at points along the Mackenzie River
and its delta area on the Arctic Ocean.
The political boundaries of the Yukon and Northwest Territories contain all of
the Canadian Arctic. This area of Wi million square miles, of which 53,000 is fresh
water, contains a total population of some 50,000 people, chiefly inhabiting the
southern latitudes.
Why then, do we speak of waste problems in such an enormous,
sparsely-populated land?
Many answers can be found. Ecologists and conservationists describe the north
as one of the world's last true wilderness areas. Governments, already facing difficult
pollution problems, have begun strong protective legislation to ensure protection of
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