Pituffik: Difference between revisions

'''Pituffik''' is a former settlement in northern [[Greenland]], located at the eastern end of [[Bylot Sound]] by a [[tombolo]] known as ''Uummannaq'', near the current site of the American [[Thule Air Base]]. The former inhabitants were relocated to the present-day town of [[Qaanaaq]]. The relocation and the fallout from the [[1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash]] in the vicinity are a contentious issue in Greenland's relations with [[Denmark]] and the [[United States]].

{{main|ThulePituffik AirSpace Base}}

In 1951 the United States was given permission to build Thule Air Base at the site of the settlement. Between 1952 and May 1953, all residents of Pituffik and nearby Dundas (Uummannaq) were forcibly relocated {{convert|130|km|mi|abbr=on}} north to the new town of [[Qaanaaq]], commonly known at the time as "''New Qaanaaq''" or "''New Thule''",<ref name="cold">{{cite book|last=Ehrlich|first=Gretel|title=This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland|publisher=[[Random House]]|pages=143, 176, 222|year=2001|isbn=978-0-679-75852-5|author-link=Gretel Ehrlich}}</ref><ref name="postgl">{{cite web |url=https://issuu.com/telegreenlandas/docs/gc_gb_0302 |publisher=[[Post Greenland]] |title=Greenland Collector Vol.8, No.2, May 2003 |access-date=16 July 2010}}</ref> where people were forced to live in tents from May 1953 until November of the same year, well into the polar winter, while the 27 new houses were constructed for them.<ref name="postgl"/><ref name="elaw">{{cite web |url=http://www.elaw.org/node/3834 |publisher=Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide |title=Denmark -- HINGITAQ 53 vs. Denmark, Application No. 18584/04 |access-date=16 July 2010}}</ref> The total cost of the relocation amounted to 8.65 million [[Danish krone]] (DKK), or 1.52 million US dollars, with more than half covered by the AmericanU.S. side.<ref name="elaw"/>

[[Radioactive decay|Radioactive]] [[plutonium]] from the 1968 bomber crash contaminated the nearby ancient hunting grounds, affecting the livelihoods of the region's inhabitants.<ref name="cold"/><ref name="lp">{{cite book|last=O'Carroll|first=Etain|title=Greenland and the Arctic|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|pages=199–200|year=2005|isbn=1-74059-095-3}}</ref><ref name="pressure">{{cite news |url=http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article109940.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130213160543/http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article109940.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 February 2013 |title=Kræver alt frem |work=[[Sermitsiaq (newspaper)|Sermitsiaq]] |date=2 February 2010 |language=da |access-date=16 July 2010 }}</ref> There is evidence of hairless [[fur seal]]s, and [[muskox]]en with deformed hooves;<ref name="lp"/> the pollution remainingremains a contentious issue between Greenland, Denmark, and the United States.<ref name="lp"/><ref name="pressure"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article62919.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720165804/http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article62919.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 July 2012 |title=Udvalg rystet over hemmeligholdelse |work=[[Sermitsiaq (newspaper)|Sermitsiaq]] |date=12 November 2010 |language=da |access-date=16 July 2010 }}</ref>

While the protection of Greenland offered by the airbase is not disputed,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article1865.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717091526/http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article1865.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 July 2012 |title=Afdæmpet missildebat |work=[[Sermitsiaq (newspaper)|Sermitsiaq]] |date=5 December 2006 |language=da |access-date=16 July 2010 }}</ref> the relocation of the 1950s remains a controversial issue in Greenland more than half a century later, with ongoing demands for land reclamation being proposed by Greenlandic politicians.<ref name="lp"/> The current Government of Greenland does not have influence over the continued existence of the airbase at the site, as [[foreign policy]] remains asthe prerogative of the [[Government of Denmark]]. From the mid-1980s onwards, the then -Greenland Home Rule government worked together with the Government of Denmark to resolve the social effects of the eviction. On 30 September 1986, Denmark and the U.S. agreed to reduce the area outside Greenland's jurisdiction to half of the original size.<ref name="elaw"/> In 1997, the Danish government agreed to subsidize the construction of the [[Qaanaaq Airport]] (47 million DKK), in agreement with the Home Rule government.<ref name="elaw"/>

On 28 November 2003, the [[Danish Supreme Court]] ruled on the relocation issue denying the residents of Qaanaaq the right to return to the former village in Pituffik.<ref name="lp"/> The Greenlanders, numbering 428 in the case, were represented by the ''Hingitaq 53'' group.<ref name="elaw"/> That decision was later appealed in the [[European Court of Human Rights]].<ref name="lp"/> The Court unanimously Declareddeclared the application inadmissible.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.elaw.org/content/denmark-hingitaq-53-vs-denmark-application-no-1858404-decision-european-court-human-rights-a |title=HINGITAQ 53 vs. Denmark, Application No. 18584/04 (decision from European Court of Human Rights as to admissibility of application) |work=[[Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide]] (ELAW) |language=en |access-date=10 November 2018}}</ref>

InternalThere has also been internal debate in Greenland also involvedconcerning demands to force the airbase to pay lease fees for its utilizationuse of the land.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article22593.ece |title=Atassut vil have pris på Pituffik |work=[[Sermitsiaq (newspaper)|Sermitsiaq]] |date=23 November 2007 |language=da |access-date=16 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126144919/http://sermitsiaq.gl/politik/article22593.ece |archive-date=26 January 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark]] operates the [[Thule Research Station]] at Pituffik, which is crewed up to 2two months a year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.isaaffik.org/thule-research-station-technical-university-denmark|title=Thule Research Station, Technical University of Denmark {{!}} Isaaffik|website=www.isaaffik.org|access-date=2019-12-18}}</ref>