Toxic splash? Russian rocket stage to come down in Canada's Arctic waters

Environmentalists are angry that a Russian rocket stagepotentially carrying highly toxic chemicals is expected to splashdown this weekend in a biodiversity hotspot in the Canadian Arctic.

"The idea of dropping a missile full of toxic chemicals in theArctic waters off Baffin Island is just as preposterous as drillingfor oil there," Greenpeace Arctic campaigner Alex Speers-Roeschsaid Tuesday.

"Dumping these chemicals from a ship would be a clear violationof international and Canadian law, and it is no more acceptable whenit is dumped from the air."

A spokesman from the Canadian government was not immediatelyavailable.

An international aviation authority has issued a notice warningthat debris from a Russian rocket launch is slated to fall Saturdayinto Baffin Bay. That's outside Canada's territorial waters butinside an economic zone the country partially controls.

May contain extremely toxic fuel

The space debris is a stage from a rocket set off under Russia'sRokot program, a for-profit service that launches commercialsatellites, said Michael Byers, a professor of international law andan Arctic expert at the University of British Columbia.

Byers said Russia is following the rules by informing aviationauthorities of the launch and the splashdown. The stage is fallingover a remote stretch of water between Greenland and the southerntip of Ellesmere Island.

He notes Rokot uses repurposed Cold-War-era intercontinentalballistic missiles to launch satellites. Those missiles, the SS-19,use hydrazine for fuel.

Hydrazine is known to be extremely toxic so toxic thattechnicians working with it have to use pressurized hazmat suits,Byers said.

"The United States has very deliberately moved away from itbecause of the health and environment risk."

The U.S. last used hydrazine as a launch propellant in its Titanmissile program which ended a decade ago.

North Water Polynya at risk

The rocket stage is expected to come down in what is called theNorth Water Polynya, an 85,000-square-kilometre area of Arctic seathat naturally remains ice free year round.

The open water is a refuge for narwhal, beluga, walrus andbowhead whales. Its plankton-rich waters draw shoals of Arctic cod,providing food for an ecosystem that also supports seals, polarbears and millions of seabirds.

The polynya the largest in the Arctic is hunted by Inuit fromCanada and Greenland. It's also connected through ocean currents toLancaster Sound, where the Canadian governmentis consideringcreation of a marine protected area.

Byers said little is known about how hydrazine reacts in water,especially when it is cold and ice-choked. Nor is there anyinformation on how much unused hydrazine the rocket stage is likelyto hit the water with.

An American rocket stage that came down off the coast ofNewfoundland in 2005 released more than two tonnes of ahydrazine-based fuel.