In 2007, con­cen­tra­ti­ons of the long-lived envi­ron­men­tal toxin PCBs hig­her than expec­ted have been found in and near the sett­le­ments in Spits­ber­gen. Buil­ding mate­ri­als (paint, con­cre­te) and elec­tri­cal parts seem to be major sources. The hig­hest values were found in the Rus­si­an sett­le­ments of Barents­burg and Pyra­mi­den. PCBs from the­se local sources have alre­a­dy been found in the bot­tom sedi­ments in the near-by fjords.

Both Rus­si­an and Nor­we­gi­an aut­ho­ri­ties have appar­ent­ly alre­a­dy made some pro­gress in remo­ving the dan­ge­rous mate­ri­als. Almost 1000 elec­tri­cal parts (con­den­sa­tors from light­ing instal­la­ti­ons) have alre­a­dy been remo­ved, and ano­ther 2000 is to fol­low as soon as repla­ce­ment parts have arri­ved. The­se are said to be on the way alre­a­dy. It is also announ­ced that in Pyra­mi­den, which was aban­do­ned in 1998, all rele­vant parts will soon be com­ple­te­ly remo­ved.

All con­ta­mi­na­ted mate­ri­als will be ship­ped to Lon­gye­ar­by­en and from the­re to the main­land for dis­po­sal in Fin­land as part of the gene­ral Nor­we­gi­an gar­ba­ge manage­ment sys­tem.

In the Nor­we­gi­an sett­le­ments and sta­ti­ons (Isfjord Radio, Lon­gye­ar­by­en, Ny Åle­sund and Sveagru­va), samples were taken from soil, paint and other mate­ri­als to iden­ti­fy PCB sources. Known sources have alre­a­dy been remo­ved. The aim is to remo­ve all mate­ri­als con­tai­ning PCBs within a short time frame.

Source: Sys­sel­man­nen