MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Famous grave in South Georgia may be saved by hydroelectric project.
In many parts of the world, the building of dams for hydroelectric schemes has led to whole villages being submerged, communities broken up, climate change and threats to fragile ecosystems.
Perhaps as an instance of what a different and special place it is, the restoration of hydroelectric power generation in the remote South Atlantic Island of South Georgia would bring distinct environmental benefits and also help secure the future of a graveyard, which contains, among others, the body of the famous British explorer and adventurer, Sir Ernest Shackleton. Such, in any case, were the claims made by the South Georgia Government's Operations Manager, Gordon Liddle, speaking to Falkland Islands Radio Service Director, Corina Bishop on Tuesday.
In the seventh of a series of programmes about South Georgia, Mr.Liddle was reviewing the progress made in an ambitious programme to ?tidy up' the old whaling port of Grytviken, in King Edward Cove, which began in 2001, when the previous British military presence was replaced by a scientific one, provided by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) from their new base at King Edward Point.
According to, Liddle "we realised, around that time, that Grytviken was becoming really quite hazardous, largely because of the amount of asbestos which existed in the station, and because the station itself was falling apart due to weather. So we realised then that we had to do something to clear the whole problem up."
Aside from the problem of asbestos, which would require specialist treatment to remove it safely, Liddle explained that a preliminary survey had also brought to light the existence of other potential pollutants such as residues of furnace oils in tanks and heavy oils in half-submerged ships. It was obvious to the South Georgia Government at this stage that a considerable amount of money would be required.
Now, after two years of effort, working very closely with the principal contractors, Morrison Ltd., Gordon Liddle said that he was delighted to be able to announce that the project, including the safe removal of 3000m³ of asbestos and the re-floating of two ships, was complete. He added that although it had used up most of the South Georgia Government's reserves, the project had been concluded at a cost, which was £1 million below the original estimates.
Asked to outline future plans for the development of the Island, the South Georgia Government operations manager told FIRS that there was a "project in the background" which he thought was potentially very exciting and would require the further presence of contractors on the island to achieve. This was the re-introduction of hydroelectric power to the island.
"It would be quite wonderful, I think, to do this" said Liddle "because we have water up a hill; there was hydro power there?.. and not to use it seems in many ways foolish."
Apart from the environmental benefits of a reduction in the use of hydrocarbons on the island, Liddle said that the recent rises in oil prices made the likely recovery period of what would have to be a considerable investment, much shorter than previously estimated.
Liddle concluded that a decision whether or not to go ahead with this project would be made by the Commissioner for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands after due consideration of an environmental impact study.
Another contributory factor, according to Liddle was the likely necessity for considerable work to be done on the old dam in any case.
It was, he said, " quite an elderly structure" and although it was not in any immediate danger of collapse, "were it actually to fail then the entire contents of Gull Lake, that it holds back would empty and there is a strong possibility, given the fall line of the water, that the Grytviken cemetery would be washed out, including the remains of Sir Ernest Shackleton, amongst others. I don't want to mean that one man's body's more important than anyone else's, but I suspect that there will be a major international outcry, if we allow that to happen."
John Fowler (Mercopress) Stanley
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