Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/25/2012 - 04:48
Forums
Seafloor Organisms and Changing Ocean Conditions in Antarctic

Hi Mrs. Hermann,

I was wondering how scientists remove all of their trash while at the station. Do they burn it or transport it back to Chile? I liked your journal on the fullies, and I was wondering how you dispose of some of the other waste produced by the polar trec scientists.

Hope you are having fun! Kyle Doerrler

Sun, 02/26/2012 - 01:26

Nell Herrmann

Hi Kyle!It's great to hear from you! Yes, most of the trash is taken out of here on ship and disposed of in Santiago Chile (in a large landfill) or in the U.S. Some of the trash is burned, but most is compacted and shipped out of here. The rules are (understandably) pretty stringent, because the scientists want to have as little of an impact as possible on this place. When we had our tour the first day, the lab manager told us that we shouldn't pour anything down the sink that we wouldn't drink. This includes even the tiniest bits of chemicals; all waste chemicals leftover from experiments, etc. have to be specially packaged and shipped out of here so they can be disposed of correctly in the U.S.
Good question- thanks for writing!
-Ms. Herrmann