Summary
In recent years there has been increasing pressure at the international level to improve environmental management in the Antarctic. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) is specific about the need to clean up waste disposal sites on occupied land and abandoned sites. Assessment of contaminated sites is essential for making decisions on how potentially contaminated areas should be managed and prioritised. The purpose of work carried out at Australian Antarctic bases in the summer of 1993/94 and 1995/96 was to provide a preliminary assessment of the levels of soil and water contamination and make recommendations for further assessment and management. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of a method of assessing contaminated sites in temperate regions to sites in Antarctica, and determine its suitability as an environmental management tool.