Scientists dump oil in Antarctic in an effort to research how to clean up oil spills

By Associated Press, 3/1/2001 01:59

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) 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.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2001