RELATIONSHIPS OF PERMAFROST TO 

 ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION 



Amos J. Alter, Director 

 Division of Sanitation and Engineering 

 Alaska Department of Health 

 Juneau, Alaska 



Every section of the world has environmental peculiarities 

 which make sanitary practices difficult. The most serious prob- 

 lems which the sanitarian in Alaska faces are caused by existence 

 of permafrost in almost 60 percent of the land area of the Terri- 

 tory. The design, construction, and operation of every sanitary 

 engineering project in northern Alaska are affected by perennial 

 frost. Most of us are convinced that since permafrost cannot be 

 legislated out of existence, we should adapt our sanitation prac- 

 tices to it. 



Our objectives in sanitation must remain the same as those 

 in warmer countries. We need, however, to adapt our pro- 

 cedures to fit the environment in which we live. 



Permafrost is a thickness of soil or other superficial deposit 

 or even bedrock, at variable depths beneath the surface of the 

 earth, which has continually existed for thousands of years at 

 a temperature below freezing. Polar regions constituting 20 

 percent of the land area of the world are underlaid with perma- 

 frost. 



In this paper, I propose to discuss (1) the need for environ- 

 mental health control measures in the permafrost regions, (2) a 

 few of the physical features of permafrost, (3) the manner in 

 which these features affect present environmental health con- 

 trol measures and facilities, and (4) practical and economical 

 means for exercising sanitary control. 



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