Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
ecosystems from offshore well sites, ocean-going vessels and shore-based facilities, and
into terrestrial ecosystems from exploration wells, production wells, storage tanks and oil
pipelines. Contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons has reached very high levels on
land and in marine sediments. These chemicals enter the food chain and are suspected of
causing cancers in Arctic fish and mammals.
At present the technology for clearing up spills is not adequate to remove oil from ice-
covered waters, and there must be a high probability of a major environmental disaster in
Arctic waters. An oil spill is much more persistent in polar regions, as oil degrades ten to
twenty-five times more slowly at 5° C than at 25° C. Ice cover reduces the spreading and
evaporation of the oil (spreading is two-thirds faster in the absence of ice), and thus
organisms are
Figure 24.8
Remedial measures for the construction
problems posed by the Arctic climate and permafrost: (a)
thick gravel pads needed for aircraft runways, (b)
foundations for houses and wooden buildings, (c) the high-
tech Utilidor system for domestic services, (d) gravel pads,
