Greenland not a good buy for the U.S. given serious problems lying in wait

If you, dear reader, recall an article published in the Royal Examiner last September 13, 2018, you can say you read it here first!

Regardless, the little known dangers facing whoever owns Greenland – now featured in the national news – were described in our local report from a San Diego wedding reception guest, a U.S. Air Force veteran based in Greenland in the 1960s.

Likely, if our president and/or his staff were aware of the situation, they might not be so interested in buying the country; and if Denmark’s prime minister was aware, she may not have been quite so quick to turn down the offer.

The fact is, and was confirmed at the time by the U.S. Defense Department and the Smithsonian Institution, whoever owns the island country must cope with a looming environmental catastrophe of unknown dimensions.

My table companion at the West Coast reception was Robert Michele of Phoenix, Arizona, a retired New York City cop, who told me he was drafted into military service 53 years ago. Anticipating a Southeast Asia assignment as the Vietnam War began gathering steam, instead, he was assigned to Thule Air Force Base in Greenland, relatively close to the North Pole.

U.S. fighter interceptor squadron on the ground at Thule Air Force Base, near top-secret ‘Camp Century’ in northern Greenland, circa 1955 – Public Domain Photos U.S. Government

One of Michele’s assignments in the 1960s was to make deliveries to a top secret installation nearby called “Camp Century”. Camp Century, it turned out, was a system of tunnels beneath the ice sheet that would be used, if necessary, to deploy nuclear missiles targeting the Soviet Union in the event the Cold War turned hot.

Michele described the time he first entered Camp Century: less than 800 miles south of the North Pole, he said he entered a “main tunnel” to the covert base about 30 to 40 feet wide, then descended about 50 feet to underground (and ice?) structures including Quonset huts, a movie theater, mess hall, and other accommodations consistent with a military base.

According to information I gleaned from WikiLeaks, Camp Century had its own nuclear power plant, scientific laboratories, library, chapel, and barber shop. The “official” purpose of the installation was to test various construction techniques and perform other non-military experiments under Arctic conditions.

Readers of last year’s Royal Examiner article may remember that a published report authored by the Smithsonian’s Ben Panko titled “A Radioactive Cold War Military Base Will Soon Emerge From Greenland’s Melting Ice” warned in a subtitle: “They thought the frozen earth would keep it (the base) safely hidden. They were wrong.”

An aerial perspective of entrance to ‘Camp Century’ in northern Greenland, a Cold War era top secret U.S. nuclear strike base

The bottom line is that when the U.S. left Camp Century to the Danes a half century ago, no one figured there would be a change in climate so severe that the 115 feet of ice and snow that covered the “camp” would eventually disappear, leaving exposed an estimated 9,200 tons of toxic materials and 53,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Uncovered, these materials would be carried toward the ocean, along with radioactive water from Camp Century’s nuclear power plant, according to Panko’s report.

According to the Smithsonian, climate change could uncover and unleash the toxic waste by 2090 or perhaps earlier, a situation not contemplated when the U.S. walked away from the Camp Century in 1995.

So it would seem President Trump and staff didn’t realize some of the baggage they were trying to buy into and Prime Minister Mette Fredericksen and her staff may have forgotten what is under the melting ice in Denmark’s northern territory, the cost and responsibility of eventually dealing with she could have passed back into the hands of the nation that created the mess in the first place.
Just saying …

(Malcolm Barr Sr., our contributing writer, met Bob Michele at his God-daughter’s wedding in San Diego last July. On his return to his Rockland home he followed up on the tales of Michele’s unusual military service in the Arctic. A journalist from age 16, Barr, now 86, worked for The Associated Press and several newspapers in three countries before joining the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. from which he retired 22 years ago.)