Environmental Legacy in Kuwait

An Environmental Assessment Of Kuwait

FOREWORD

Seven years after the Gulf War, it was time to reassess Kuwait's environmental situation, its patterns of recovery and examine long-term effects that remain. Green Cross International leads this effort with the full cooperation of the Kuwaiti Government.

The environmental assessment produced by Green Cross includes two parts. The first is a study led by a group of scientists/environmental experts and the second is a 26 minutes film-documentary. The main results were presented during the First International Conference on the Environmental Consequences of War - sponsored by the Smithsonian and Environmental Law Institute - that was held on June 10-12, 1998 in Washington, DC.
The environmental damage resulting from the invasion and the subsequent war has affected all ecosystems, as well as human health.
The oil contamination of the terrestrial ecosystems reached levels on an unprecedented scale in the history of the planet. The impacts on the environment will take decades to partially disappear and their full effects may never be realized. These systems are undergoing some natural recovery, but human intervention is essential to help the desert recover the health and diversity it had before the war. Remediation of the desert is essential to remedy the definitive contamination of Kuwait's fresh groundwater reserve and avoid long-term continuing contamination of fresh and brackish groundwater. The oil has continuously seeped into the ground. The volume of contaminated soil that will require treatment increases with each passing day, and approaches 50 million m3.
Existing remediation techniques are expensive. In addition these techniques are experimental and time is needed for further experiment before we can move towards full implementation. In a few years, it will be too late to remedy the desert because the volume of contaminated sand will be too large. The desert will be contaminated forever. To avoid this second ecological catastrophe in Kuwait, the contaminated sand must be viewed as a toxic waste and solutions must be found for its temporary storage until remediation can occur. For example, techniques used to contain mining residues could be implemented.
We now know that one fresh groundwater aquifer representing 40% of the fresh water reserves of Kuwait are contaminated, and the remaining strategic freshwater reserves provide Kuwait with less than a two-month supply for the entire population. What will happen if the desalinization plants are shut down or not working for any reason? What will happen if the brackish water used for mixing with desalinated water and the stream of underground freshwater in the south of Kuwait are contaminated?
The vitality of the sea and its power of natural remediation is many times more than that of the desert. After the incredible ecological stresses due to the war, the marine ecosystems and fisheries have progressively regained their prewar status.
Seven years after the war, the impacts of oil contamination due to the war on the marine ecosystems and living species such as fish and shrimp are difficult to distinguish from the impacts of chronic pollution from the oil industry and coastal development. Currently, the coral reefs appears healthy and the quantity of shrimp harvested each year are similar to the ones recorded before the war. These findings do not identify the more long-term impacts of the contamination on marine ecosystems and living species. Nevertheless, research on the long-term impacts must be strengthened.
The presence and fear of mines is a major issue of concern. The long-term health impacts remain an essential public health issue that requires the implementation of rehabilitation programs.
The total loss undergone by Kuwait is evaluated at over 200 billion dollars and the environmental damage is estimated at over 40 billion dollars. Kuwait's top priority after the war was to reconstruct the infrastructure and rebuild the economy of the country. Most of this is now done, but not enough has been done for the environment.
The environment has always been one of the "victims" of war throughout the history of mankind. Attila burned the landscape behind him in his retreat. The nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands people and left hundreds of square kilometers contaminated land. More recently, agent Orange, one of the most efficient defoliants was widely used during the Vietnam war. The environment is also victim to ecological catastrophes caused by human technology, Chernobyl being the worst example. The international community must exercise its solidarity when one sovereign country has to face such a huge environmental disaster.
President Mikhaïl Gorbachev made an eloquent appeal during his plenary remarks in Washington for a special Fund dedicated to finance interventions in case of emergency. Nations, companies, and foundations would finance the Fund. Such an Emergency Fund must be created before future catastrophes occur so that fund will be available immediately. This will ensure that environmental concerns will receive the immediate attention that they need. Like most problems, environmental ones do not go away. The high cost of environmental degradation only gets more expensive when left unattended. The price is not only paid in hard currency, but in the damage of the public's health.
The world's recognition that the environment can be used as a weapon of mass destruction is an important lesson learned from the Iraqi invasion in Kuwait.
The international community must act now to avoid any repetition of such use and ensure that mechanisms are in place to act quickly for the sake of present and future generations.

Bertrand Charrier
Executive Director,
Green Cross International

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