DEW Line
From WikiAlpha
The Distant Early Warning Line was a chain of 92 long range radar stations built in the Canadian Arctic in the 1960s.[1] Its purpose was to detect long-range Soviet bombers approaching the United States during the cold war.
Improvements in technology made it possible to close half the bases only five years after they were built. The remainder of the bases were closed in 1993.[1]
When Canadian officials inspected the base-sites after their American staff left they found the sites were heavily damaged by toxic waste.[1] The Toronto Star reported US staff had "treated the North like a vast garbage dump."
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sandro Contenta (2012-08-04). "DEW Line: Canada is cleaning up pollution caused by Cold War radar stations in the Arctic". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2012-08-08. http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2Fnews%2Finsight%2Farticle%2F1236806--dew-line-canada-is-cleaning-up-pollution-caused-by-cold-war-radar-stations-in-the-arctic&date=2012-08-08. "The land was also disfigured. The military and civilian personnel who operated the radar sites treated the North like a vast garbage dump. Then, after so much effort and hubris, the DEW Line shrivelled as fast as it came. In 1963 — five years after it was completed — intercontinental ballistic missiles and other new technologies made half of the 42 radar sites in Canada’s Arctic obsolete. They were abandoned and left to rust."
