Kuwait, War and Environment
28 minutes Documentary film
Director
Catherine Mabilat
And
Paula DiPerna
Produced by
Green Cross International
with
Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Science
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Kuwait, War and Environment 28 minutes Documentary film Director And Produced by with |
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Open on soft evening light of sunset in Kuwait, 1998
seven years after the Iraqi invasion--view of desert landscape dotted with
oil installations; dramatic modern city skyline and water towers, people
walking through the streets; fleet of dowh fishing boats rocks gently on
the sea--mood of daily life in Kuwait returned to pre-invasion equilibrium.
Cut to archival footage of fishing dowhs burned on the harbor during the
invasion. Continue visuals and narrative of the 1991 events such as the
burning of the oil fields, and massive oil slicks that threatened marine
life and vital desalinization plants, all resulting from the invasion, and
the extraordinary and successful effort to extinguish hundreds of raging
fires and huge towers of flame. The oil fires were unprecedented, emblematic
of the unprecedented military attack on natural resources. And, although
the flames may be out, many environmental uncertainties remain today, visible
and invisible, concerning land, ocean and, most importantly, freshwater.
The oil catastrophe in Kuwait demonstrated all too vividly to the world
the vulnerability of natural resources to war, and a cascade of physical
and human effects which, despite the enormous sums of money spent, may be
impossible to truly calculate or compensate for, to this and future generations. |
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Aerial on desert, 1998, with vast collection of decaying
and rusting skeletons of tanks and other military hardware, vestiges of
the invasion, now impotent. But, equally apparent, hundreds of large lakes
of crude oil visible across the desert. Various shots of lingering destruction
in the Al-Burghan oil field, such as bombed-out Kuwait Oil Company headquarters,
blackened and destroyed oil tanks, views from Jaaidan Garden, and the seeping
black lakes with pumps at work separating oil from water and soil left from
explosions in the oil lines and the hosing of the fires. Sequence on damage to terrestrial resource, including research pilot soil bio-remediation program, and use of cleaned soil to plant flowers and crops. Interview with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research specialist in Kuwait Oil Company display center, Though much oil was and is being recovered from the lakes for resale, a potentially significant environmental threat remains, namely the remediation, rehabilitation and disposal of tons of contaminated soil and sludge. This is of particular importance because contaminated could leach into vital and scarce underground freshwater resources. Shots of hydro-geological structure models of layering of oil and water. |
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Water is obviously a vital resource for life, especially
in Kuwait, where usable fresh water is extremely scarce. Innovations in
Kuwait include desalinization, to provide irrigation water for agriculture,
helping to bring forth life in the desert, but also very expensive to produce.
Interview on costs of desalinization and the importance of efficient allocation.
Sequence on farming activities at Al-Wafra, where desalinated water is used,
including shots of the process of trucking desalinated water farm to farm. |
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Another key water resource is at Rawdatayn and at
Umm Al-Aish, Kuwait's only strategic reserves of pure water, putting them
at special risk and making it especially precious. Sequence on Al-Rawdatayn
oil field, including shots of bottling plant and current use of this vital
aquifer. Sequence with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research specialist
on post-war contamination of Umm Al-Aish aquifer and ongoing monitoring
to determine the status of the health of this resource. |
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Scientists are also monitoring the marine environment.
Sequence with Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research researcher on shrimping
vessel where study of shrimp fishery is ongoing, as fishery could have been
affected by the oil slicks in coastal areas. In general, scientists are
concerned about a drop in catch levels of many species, which could be caused
by over-fishing but which also be caused by toxics lingering in the ocean
as a result of the vast war-caused oil spillage in the sea, which could
be interfering with the life cycle of micro-organisms important for fish
species. At the fish market, fishermen bring in catch of other species for
a daily auction. Interview with fishermen and representative of fishing
industry on importance of this natural resource to the economy of Kuwait
and its vulnerability to damage such as that which took place during the
Iraqi invasion. |
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The most poignant victims of the invasion remain those
who suffered consequences from land mines and are afflicted by post-traumatic
stress disorder. Archival footage of painstaking de-mining process and sequence
of visit to hospital and victims of mines and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Shots of Kuwaiti people slowly recovering their lives and the environment
on which they depend and which, after all, can have no price in monetary
terms. |
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Shots of fishermen at harbor, boats at sea, aerial
of Qarou Island. Jean-Michel Cousteau meets with Kuwait Diving Team for
underwater sequence on the coral reef and discussion of the new environmental
consciousness that has developed in Kuwait as part of the aftermath of the
invasion and attack on natural resources. Cousteau also talks about environmental
protection and lingering effects of oil on marine micro-organisms with Kuwait
Institute for Scientific Research specialist at Al-Khihran. Cousteau also
speaks with oil industry representatives about new precautions taken to
prevent oil spills and pollution in the event of future attacks. In Washington,
D.C. at an international conference on environmental effects of war, Cousteau
also meets with Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss the global implications of
ecological warfare. For the clean-up effort in Kuwait carried extraordinary
national and international costs and the security of oil carries national
and international security implications. But what of forests, or rivers,
or other equally vulnerable but less obviously strategic resources? What
of very poor countries with limited response capacity? What about the international
management of natural resources as rivers if one nation is isolated from
the world community? Gorbachev cites the experience and image of Kuwait
and other nations of the world and calls for international action to prevent
the use of natural resources as targets of war. |
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